INTERFERON INITIATIVE: WE’RE TACKLING THE HARD QUESTIONS

  • MPNRF | April 28, 2019

    The MPNRF Interferon (IFN) Initiative is a multi-center project that has brought together internationally recognized experts in both blood and solid tumors to determine how cytokine-driven pathways affect the trajectory of the MPNs, a closely-related group of progressive blood cancers. The collaboration among this group of scientists speaks to their drive to answer these questions:

    • How and why does targeting the IFN pathway reduce the burden of mutated stem cells in MPN patients?
    • Why is targeting this pathway effective for some MPN patients but not others?
    • Why are the positive effects of targeting this pathway not permanent?

    It is MPNRF’s hope and determination that this multi-year project will bring discoveries to light for MPN patients, and will provide an essential weapon in the arsenal of treatments available to them and to patients with other cancers. There is now a formulation of interferon being developed specifically for use in the treatment of MPNs called Ropeginterferon, but we don’t know if or when it will be approved by the FDA.

    This initiative is funded by MPN patients and supporters, a collaborative funding partnership with Cancer Research & Treatment Fund and MPN Alliance Australia, and by generous contributions from PharmaEssentia.