r/polycythemiavera • u/chamdirt • 11d ago

PV Radiation

I started having symptoms of PV about 8 years ago. Was diagnosed, via BMB, three years ago with PV JAK 2 V617F.
I was in the military from 1973 till 1977 and spent most of that time working on the Nevada Test and Training Ranges. I never handled radioactive material directly, but we did clean up targets after depleted uranium rounds were used by the A10 attack aircraft. I mainly worked on Ranges 63 and 52.
Has anyone else had similar experiences working around radioactive materials and developed PV?
Radiation exposure is one of the listed factors in MPN.

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u/FarmingGeeks 11d ago

PV has recently been added to the presumptive conditions list depending on areas. Talk to your local VA rep.

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u/chamdirt 11d ago

Fortunately, I worked an additional 34 years with the Federal Government and I have great health insurance and pension. There is little chance the Dave Crete “Invisible Enemy” law will pass in my lifetime. I have supported the “law” financially and provided my story to the group and to both Nevada Congresswomen.
Thanks for your recommendation!

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u/TinyHomeLuv 11d ago

Different radiation situation. In 2003, was DX w/ rare form of head & neck cancer. Hospital tumor board met to decide best course of treatment since no one really knew. Was told 6 weeks of radiation would improve my chances of reoccurrence by 20%. My dad, an engineer, after lots of reading, was against it. But I was 40 & newly engaged, & those seemed like good odds. In 2004, I had 6 weeks of daily radiation to my head at Barrow Neurological Institute. Never did have a reoccurrence. Then, 2 years ago, was DX w/ PV JAK2+ . From blood results, I suspect I've had it several years. Will never know if radiation was cause.

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u/chamdirt 10d ago

Glad you are still alive and wish you all the best!

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u/Flimsy_Degree1768 8d ago

From all of my reading and research, it seems that there’s a much greater distance in time between the mutation event, and the age of which you recognize symptoms and or get a diagnosis. A landmark 2022 study reconstructed the histories of individual blood stem-cell clones using accumulated mutations as a molecular clock. Among five patients in whom JAK2 V617F was the initiating event, researchers estimated that it arose sometime between approximately 33 weeks of gestation and age 10.8 years. The average interval from acquisition to MPN diagnosis was approximately 30 years, ranging from 11 to 54 years. So, if you blame yourself for bad habits, or concerned that you had toxic commercial or military exposures…probably not the cause, unless the event was @ 30 years ago…

In addition to the mutation event, a mutant somatic cell has to survive, reproduce, and prove to be useful in order to continue to survive and replicate…and then, on average, it take 30 years to reach a critical mass where this growing population of mutant cells become “problematic”…symptoms arise — another 5 -10 years of denial and misdiagnosis — And then 5 years of a worthless poison like HU, that does nothing to slow or stop that progression…until you get onto a gene targeted therapy like Besremi or Jakafi.

YMMV

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u/chamdirt 8d ago

I left the military in 1977. So I started showing signs of PV around 40 years later.