Essential thrombocythemia(ET) is one of the Ph chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms. Some studies discovered that the mutation of JAK2 V617F existed in 50%-70% patients with ET. Recently, many significant advances in researches about pathogenesis of ET, such as mutations of JAK2V617F, MPL, CALR and other related mutation; the epigenetic abnomalities in incidence of ET; the changes of bone marrow microenvironment of ET and the regulation of related cytokines were obtained. In this article, the advances of above mentioned aspects of ET are summarized.