Ruben Mesa, MD, from the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA discusses how to manage adult myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the British Society of Haematology (BSH) and International Society of Hematology (ISH) in Glasgow, Scotland. An understanding of the patients’ risk, molecular features and their symptom burden is key to assessing their treatment options. Dr Mesa further discusses the prevention of vascular events through the use of aspirin and cytoreduction.