For many caregivers, visiting the doctor’s office can be one of the most daunting aspects of caring for a loved one with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, it is also one of the most important jobs you can do as a caregiver. With MDS, two heads are better than one when it comes to asking questions, making sure all possible treatment options are being pursued, and remembering what the doctor said after the appointment.
In some cases, the physical fight with…
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients with trisomy 11 were observed to have a shorter overall survival rate than other patients in the intermediate-risk MDS category and may represent a higher-risk category of MDS according to a comparison study recently published in the journal Leukemia.
The study authors speculated that MDS with trisomy 11 may represent an early evolving stage of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) rather than simply intermediate-risk MDS, due to the high frequency of transformation into AML.
The chromosomal abnormality…
U.K. Agency Does Not Recommend Vidaza For MDS Patients – The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), the agency that decides which treatments will be funded for patients in England and Wales, released a final draft guidance on March 3 recommending that Vidaza (azacitidine) not be used to treat MDS. Although Vidaza may extend survival by nine months compared to standard therapy for MDS, NICE concluded that due to the drug’s high cost it cannot be recommended as a cost-effective…
Nplate (romiplostim) may be effective in the treatment of thrombocytopenia in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients according to a recent study, and may prove to be an alternative treatment to platelet transfusions for MDS patients with thrombocytopenia.
Thrombocytopenia (low platelet levels) can be an unfavorable prognostic factor for MDS survival. Increased thrombocytopenia is often linked to a shorter time to AML progression. Platelet transfusions are currently the only available treatment option for thrombocytopenia. Transfusions carry a set of risks including alloimmunization,…