The MDS Beacon™

Independent, up-to-date news and information for MDS patients and their families.

(+) Click here to see the resources menu.

What is MDS?

by Biblia Kim
Published: May 1, 2009 12:00 am

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of rare diseases, which affect the production of normally functioning blood cells in the bone marrow. In MDS, developing blood cells (“stem cells”) fail to properly mature, resulting in a lower than normal number of healthy blood cells.

MDS is characterized by overactive bone marrow that produces too many stem cells; however, many of these cells are defective (called “dysplastic”) and immature (called “blasts”). While dysplastic cells are abnormal in shape and unable to function properly, blasts die prematurely, due to unknown cancer-related mutations. Blasts also reproduce rapidly and accumulate in the bone marrow.

The severity of MDS is based on the percentage of blasts within the patient’s bone marrow. Patients with over 5 percent blasts are considered to have “high-risk” MDS, whereas patients with over 20 to 30 percent blasts are considered to have acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a form of cancer.

Who is at Risk? »

Photo available on Wikipedia - in the public domain.

.	MDS Information What is MDS? Who is at risk? Signs and Symptoms Diagnosis Prognosis Treatment Overview
.	MDS Treatments Vidaza (azacitidine) Revlimid (lenalidomide) Dacogen (decitabine) Chemotherapy Stem Cell Transplantation Supportive Care Anemia Iron Chelation Therapy for Excess Iron
.	Personal Perspectives Vernette Godfrey: From MDS Caregiver To MDS Patient Peggy Mills: MDS Patient Chooses Not To Pursue Aggressive Treatment Ally Boyle: MDS Patient Works To Find Stem Cell Donors For Himself And Others Carolyn and Hannah Cooney: MDS Patient Balances Family And Work With The Realities Of The Disease Sam and Cyndy Morreale: MDS Patient Builds New Life Through Painting And Charity Work Gary Haub: Newly Diagnosed Patient Is Ready To Fight MDS And AML Jürgen Neugebohrn: Extensive Preparation Led To New Life For MDS Survivor Aldeane Sööt: MDS Survivor Shares Journey To Wellness Berit Behnke: Retiree With Newly Diagnosed MDS Seeks Connection To Other MDS Patients Barbara Davis, Nita Plauche, Andy Carrico, & Ryan Collins: Patient Experiences With Stem Cell Transplants From Unrelated Donors Roger Contreras, Steve Flaig, & Robert Poole Jr.: Patient Experiences With Stem Cell Transplants From Sibling Donors Carl Riegel: College Professor Keeps Busy While Living With Myelodysplastic Syndromes Bob Macfarlane: Vietnam Vet Fights Myelodysplastic Syndromes To Spend More Time Outside Mitch Kaplan: Blogging About Skiing, Golfing, And Airplanes – And Living With MDS Roger Contreras: “I have MDS”
.	Physician Columns Dr. David Steensma, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, writes a quarterly column
.	Patient Help Center Directory of Treatment Centers Books About MDS Glossary Guide To Clinical Trials For Myelodysplastic Syndromes Patients Caring For A Loved One With Myelodysplastic Syndromes The H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine And MDS

The MDS Beacon™

Resources

MDS Information

MDS Treatments

Personal Perspectives

Physician Columns

Patient Help Center

What is MDS?

Related Articles:

Leave a comment