Low-Dose Decitabine in Treating Patients With Symptomatic Myelofibrosis

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histological confirmation of primary myelofibrosis or post essential thrombocythemic or polycythemic vera myelofibrosis

Reticulin fibrosis ≥ grade 1

Evaluable and symptomatic disease worthy of treatment, characterized by ≥ 1 of the following:

Anemia, defined as hemoglobin < 11 g/dL or erythrocyte transfusion dependence
Palpable and symptomatic splenomegaly (palpable and symptomatic hepatomegaly is acceptable if previously splenectomized)

Severe, disease-related constitutional symptoms, including ≥ 1 of the following:

Severe night sweats
Fevers
Weight loss
Bone pain
Absence of t(9;22) by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or standard cytogenetics OR prior demonstration of a lack of this translocation

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-3
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1,000/mm³
Platelet count ≥ 50,000/mm³
Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
Direct or total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (≤ 5 times ULN if elevation is attributed to hepatic extramedullary hematopoiesis)
Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception
Not incarcerated in a municipality, county, state, or federal prison
No serious medical condition or psychiatric illness that would preclude signing the informed consent
No condition that, in the opinion of the treating physician, places the patient at unacceptable risk for study participation or confounds the ability to interpret study data
Able to adhere to the study visit schedule and other study requirements

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

No other concurrent chemotherapy (e.g., hydroxyurea, thalidomide, interferon alpha, anagrelide, or other myelosuppressive agent) or experimental therapy