The MDS Beacon™

German researchers recently found that classification of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia based on the percentage of immature stem cells is not a significant prognostic factor for patients with 10 percent to 30 percent of immature stem cells in the bone marrow. They determined that age, genetic factors, and platelet count best predict disease prognosis for these individuals.

According to the researchers, their findings suggest that myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with 10 percent to 30 percent of immature stem cells are biologically, genetically, and molecularly similar.…

Results of a recent study suggest that serum albumin, a protein in blood, may be a good factor to determine the prognoses of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes patients who have received an allogeneic stem cell transplant.

Stem cell transplantation is the only known cure for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). When patients undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplant, they receive healthy stem cells from a donor (For more information about stem cell transplantation, please see the related Beacon article).

However, not all patients are suitable for transplants, and more…

Vidaza (azacitidine) improves survival compared to conventional care regimens in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients who are 75 years or older, according to an analysis performed by researchers on an earlier Phase 3 clinical trial.

Researchers concluded that age alone should not be the deciding factor for treatment choice and that more elderly patients should be considered for targeted chemotherapies, such as Vidaza.

Elderly MDS patients generally have limited treatment options due to other age-related diseases, functional impairment, and poor tolerability or ineffectiveness of available therapies. Doctors may also be…

The development of chromosomal abnormalities after diagnosis may have a negative impact on prognosis for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients according to a recent study published in the Annals of Hematology. 

Italian researchers found that patients who developed misshapen chromosomes after diagnosis in a process called cytogenetic evolution had a 7 times higher risk of shorter survival and a 36 times higher risk of progressing to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) than chromosomally stable patients.

The study revealed that 30.7 percent of MDS patients undergo cytogenetic evolution and that this process is…

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients with skin lesions may have a slightly higher chance of disease progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) according to a recent study conducted by French researchers. 

The study authors pointed out that although the risk of AML transformation was higher for patients with skin lesions, it was not a significant vulnerability. They suggested dermatologists work closely with hematologists to assess skin conditions in patients with MDS. 

Skin lesions differ by diagnosis but are usually characterized by red bumps.  Depending on the diagnosis, they may grow in…