[Utility of bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasm].

A diagnostic approach of myeloproliferative neoplasms, according to the 2008 WHO classification system for hematological malignancies, has to consider clinical, molecular, and cytogenetic information as well as bone marrow histology. A diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia requires the presence of BCR-ABL-1, and the Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-1-negative) myeloproliferative neoplasms constitute three main subtypes, including primary myelofibrosis, polycythemia rubra vera, and essential thrombocythemia. These three Ph-1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms share many pathogenic characteristic such as JAK2 mutations; however, they differ in prognosis, progression to myelofibrosis, and risk of leukemic transformation. There are currently various major points of interest in bone marrow examination in myeloproliferative neoplasms. One is the morphology of megakaryocytes, which are the hallmark of Ph-1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms and play a crucial role in separating the different subtypes of myeloproliferative neoplasms. Another is reticulin fibrosis or collagen fibrosis, which may only be detected on a bone marrow biopsy specimen by reticulin and trichrome stains, respectively, and immunohistochemistry and certain molecular techniques may be applied in bone marrow biopsies as supporting evidence of certain features of myeloproliferative neoplasms.