title: Clinical roundtable monograph. Overall survival and maintenance of MDS patients.
abstract: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) represent a collection of heterogeneous malignant bone marrow stem cell disorders that result in the production of dysplastic and ineffective blood cells. The disease is marked by gradually worsening cytopenias and a variable risk for the eventual transformation to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The risk of developing MDS increases with age, and disease onset before 50 years is unusual. Several morphologic subtypes of MDS have been identified. Each of these subtypes has specific prognostic and morphologic and/or cytogenetic features which make it unique. The International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) was developed to aid in determining the prognosis of patients with MDS; this system categorizes patients into four risk groups for both overall survival and transformation to AML: low, intermediate-1, intermediate-2, and high. The management of MDS is based on the goal of controlling cytopenia-related symptoms, improving survival, improving quality of life, and decreasing risk of progression to AML. Treatment strategies include supportive care, iron chelation, treatment with hematopoietic growth factors,immunosuppressive therapies including lenalidomide, antithymocyte globulin, chemotherapy (eg, azacitidine, decitabine, low-dose Ara-C, 7+3 chemotherapy), and stem cell transplantation. However, selecting the appropriate therapy for each individual patient is critical to optimize clinical benefit. This monograph discusses treatment selection for the MDS patient,including a discussion of the overall survival and maintenance of MDS patients, how an appropriate therapy should be chosen in the community setting, and how MDS classification and risk stratification impacts treatment decisions.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Lewis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Silverman
mesh_terms: D001374:Azacitidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D015254:DNA Modification Methylases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000077209:Decitabine; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000077209:Decitabine; D015254:DNA Modification Methylases; D001374:Azacitidine