One myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patient has been reported to have fluid build up, known as effusion, in her lungs and in the area surrounding her heart after taking Dacogen (decitabine). It is the first reported case of effusion induced by the drug.

The sixty year old patient received Dacogen (20 mg/m² per day) for five days by intravenous injection. Following the therapy, the patient reported a skin rash, slow marrow recovery, and fatigue. She was admitted to the hospital one month post treatment due to neutropenic fever, a…

A study in the September issue of Leukemia Research by German scientists at the Georg-August University reveals that a drug known as amifostine (Ethyol) may help in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients.

Amifostine, a drug used to lessen side effects of radiation therapy, helped improve blood production and slowed down disease progression in some low- and intermediate-1-risk patients in the study. Promoting blood production in these patients is important because MDS causes the body to ineffectively produce blood cells.

Researchers conducted the Phase 2 study on 44…

A recent study from Heinrich-Heine University in Germany reveals that the success of chemotherapy on patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) may be predicted using cytogenetic studies before and after the therapy. Cytogenetics refers to the study of the structure and function of cells, specifically the chromosomes. Understanding and analyzing the cytogenetic findings at the time of diagnosis helps influence prognosis as well as the path of therapy recommended for each patient.

Scientists studied 118 patients with MDS or AML and abnormalities in their chromosomes. These…

A study reported in the March issue of Leukemia suggests irregular balance of immune cells in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients may help predict patient response to therapy that suppresses the immune system. The study also finds that younger MDS patients are more responsive to the therapy than older patients.

Researchers at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida examined blood samples from 76 MDS patients and several healthy patients as a control. Researchers used a technique called flow cytometry to measure the production of cells. Flow cytometry is a…

A Phase 2 study by researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has shown that suppression of the immune system with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG) is a safe and effective treatment for low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and a low-blood cell condition known as aplastic anemia (AA).

While the rATG therapy induced a favorable response in patients as a first-choice therapy, AA patients had a higher response rate (92 percent) compared to MDS patients (33 percent).

Immunosuppressive treatments are being studied for AA and MDS because research suggests that…