Optimized and Personalized Phlebotomy Schedules for Patients Suffering From Polycythemia Vera

Polycythemia vera (PV) is a slow-growing type of blood cancer, where the production of red blood cells (RBCs) increase considerably. The principal treatment for targeting the symptoms of PV is bloodletting (phlebotomy) at regular intervals based on data derived from blood counts and physician assessments based on experience. Model-based decision support can help to identify optimal and individualized phlebotomy schedules to improve the treatment success and reduce the number of phlebotomies and thus negative side effects of the therapy. We present an extension of a simple compartment model of the production of RBCs in adults to capture patients suffering from PV. We analyze the model's properties to show the plausibility of its assumptions. We complement this with numerical results using exemplary PV patient data. The model is then used to simulate the dynamics of the disease and to compute optimal treatment plans. We discuss heuristics and solution approaches for different settings, which include constraints arising in real-world applications, where the scheduling of phlebotomies depends on appointments between patients and treating physicians. We expect that this research can support personalized clinical decisions in cases of PV.