The MDS Beacon™

Dr. Pearlie Epling-Burnette, from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, presented new research highlighting immune system disorders at the 10th Annual International Symposium for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) in Patras, Greece. Auto-immune diseases seem to affect some MDS patients, even though it is only a small percentage of the overall MDS patient population.

Her presentation on May 7, called “Controlling the ‘Fate’ of T-Cells in MDS,” focused on natural killer T-cells, white blood cells that are the immune system’s first non-specific defense against foreign pathogens and defective cells.…

Strategies for the optimization of epigenetic therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes were covered at the 10th International Symposium on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (ISMDS). Several speakers presented their work, including Valeria Santini from the University of Florence, who discussed the activity of Vidaza (azacitidine) and Dacogen (decitabine) in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Epigenetic therapy is the use of drugs to correct mistakes in the production of protein from DNA. These mistakes are commonly the result of environmental factors, and result in the production of…

The 10th International Symposium on Myelodysplastic Syndromes, held May 6-9 in Patras, Greece, brought  MDS doctors and scientists together from around the world to discuss new discoveries and treatment options for myelodysplastic syndromes.

The three-day symposium, sponsored by the MDS Foundation, featured over 40 speakers throughout nine sessions on various topics. Case studies of specific MDS patients, poster sessions, and nursing education programs were also presented.

Several topics of particular interest from the symposium will be featured in articles on the MDS Beacon in the next several…