To study the prevalence of the Val617Phe JAK2 mutation in familial cases of myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) and its possible implication as a predisposing genetic factor, we analyzed 72 families including 174 patients (81 polycythemia vera [PV], 68 essential thrombocythemia [ET], 11 myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia [MMM], 12 chronic myeloid leukemia), 1 systemic mastocytosis, and 1 chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The JAK2 mutation was found in three quarters of patients with PV and MMM and in half of patients with ET. Among 46 families with at least 2 cases of PV, ET, or MMM, the JAK2 mutation was absent in 6 families, heterogeneously distributed in 18, and present in all MPD patients in 22. Among these 22 families, the absence of the JAK2 mutation both in purified T and B cells in 13 unrelated patients and the observation of variable ratios of the JAK2 mutant allele in patient leucocytes indicated that the Val617Phe JAK2 mutation was acquired in familial MPDs. The JAK2 mutation was present in natural killer cells in two thirds of tested patients (27 of 40), suggesting its occurrence in a multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cell. The analysis of the hematologic profile showed that the homozygous JAK2 mutation confers a proliferative advantage and is associated with the progression of the hematologic disease.