Who can take part?

Men and women, young adults and children who are receiving medical care for acute or chronic forms of megakaryocytic disorders. Patients with cancerous and benign platelet disorders may be enrolled in the research.

We will need healthy volunteers to donate blood samples. We may also approach other patients found to have normal bone marrow on their recent biopsies to ask if we can use some of their residual samples.

Participants will be enrolled from Auckland City, Northshore, Middlemore and Starship Children’s Hospitals.

Normal blood donors will be approached through the New Zealand Blood Service or can be colleagues or relatives of staff and patients.

Details about the blood conditions we would like to examine:

Acute blood cancers

Acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia
Acute panmyelosis with fibrosis
Myeloid leukaemia associated with Down syndrome

Chronic conditions

Myeloproliferative neoplasms

Polycythaemia vera (PV)
Essential thrombocythaemia (ET)
Primary myelofibrosis (PMF)
- Pre-fibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis
- Overt primary myelofibrosis

Certain myelodysplastic syndromes with dominant platelet abnormalities, such as

Prominent megakaryocytic dysplasia – within single or multiple lineage dysplasia
Myeloproliferative overlap syndromes with megakaryocytic proliferation and dysplasia

Benign platelet disorders

Transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) associated with Down syndrome
Children and adults with Down syndrome and no blood disease

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
Other benign platelet or megakaryocyte disorders

Control participants

Patients undergoing bone marrow biopsies for other conditions and found to have a normal marrow

Healthy volunteers and blood donors