The primary objective of this study is to determine the overall response rate to erlotinib in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). Response rate will be assessed by improvement in the complete blood count, ultrasound of the spleen, and JAK2 molecular status. It is purposed in this study to explore a possible molecular targeting of the driving mechanism of PV.
This is a phase II open-label study. Patients will be screened for MPN diagnoses and patients with Polycythemia vera proven to have JAK2V617F mutation will be given the option to enroll. Consenting patients will take erlotinib daily for 16 weeks. Blood work and pharmacokinetics will be drawn for serum level monitoring. Doses will be administered according to side effects or held. First assessment will be at day 15 wth subsequent assessments at 28 day intervals. Non-responders will be taken off the study and managed according to standard of care. Patients who do respond will continue taking the therapy for a total of 12 months. Observation will be for a total of 12 months after finishing treatment. In addition to the clinical aspect of this study, there will be correlative studies where molecular response will be checked and its correlation with clinical response.
WHO 2008 diagnosis of Polycythemia Vera Hemoglobin > 18.5 g/dl for men (16.5 g/dl for women) and presence of JAK2V617F mutation and either bone marrow trilineage myeloproliferation or subnormal serum erythropoietin level Patients may be on active treatment (phlebotomy, aspirin) ECOG performance status 0,1,2,or 3 Adequate hepatic function, adequate renal function
Exclusion Criteria:
Patient with active malignancy Patients with clinically significant cardiac disease within 1 year Opthalmologic or gastrointestinal abnormalities Concurrent cytoreductive therapy is not allowed
