title: Therapeutic spectrum in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes.
abstract: During the last 15 years, important progress has been made in the understanding of the biology and prognosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). It is a clonal disorder, characterised by ineffective haematopoiesis, which can lead to either fatal cytopenias or acute myelogenous leukaemias. Risk-adapted treatment strategies were established, due to the high median age (60 - 75 years) of the MDS patients and the individual history of the disease (i.e. number of cytopenias, cytogenetic changes, transfusion requirements). Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation currently offers the only potentially curative treatment, but this form of therapy is not available for the 'typical' MDS patient, who is > 60 years of age. Therapy with erythropoietin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor has improved the quality of life of selected patients. The development of target-specific therapies, including antibodies and small molecules directed against specific molecular alterations in MDS, with minimal adverse effects, is the hope for the future. Furthermore, the innovative use of immunomodulatory agents and the optimising of cytotoxic treatment should continue to help in the treatment of MDS.
authors.affiliation: Charité University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, Department of Hematology and Oncology and Transfusion Medicine, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203 Berlin, Germany. W.K.Hofmann@charite.de
authors.forename: Wolf-K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baldus
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Uharek
authors.forename: Eckhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thiel
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077237:Arsenic Trioxide; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005544:Forecasting; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D010087:Oxides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001152:Arsenicals; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D010087:Oxides; D004921:Erythropoietin; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D000077237:Arsenic Trioxide