The MDS Beacon™

Scottish Medicines Consortium Does Not Recommend Vidaza For MDS Patients – The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), the agency that decides which treatments will be funded for patients in Scotland, recently decided not to recommend Vidaza (azacitidine) for adult intermediate-2 or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients who are ineligible for stem cell transplants. Although the SMC recognized Vidaza improved overall survival, they did not consider it beneficial enough to justify the treatment cost. The SMC did not recommend Vidaza for acute myeloid leukemia or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia patients in the same announcement. For more information, see the SMC website.

St. Anthony’s Triathlon – Join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) on Sunday, April 25 to raise funds for blood cancer research at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon. The 0.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run, which starts in St. Petersburg, FL, will cover scenic waterfronts and will kick off the North American triathlon season. For more information, please see the LLS website.

Living With A Blood Disease Symposium – The Mayo Clinic will be holding a symposium about blood diseases for patients and their families on May 8 and 9 in Rochester, MN. Physicians from the Mayo Clinic and other medical experts will talk about the latest research and new therapies as well as more personal issues, such as financial planning, spirituality, and intimacy. The experts will also answer questions from the audience. Registration is required, and the fee for the event is $175 per person. For more information, see the Mayo Clinic website.

For a more detailed listing of MDS-related events, please check the MDS Beacon Events Calendar.