Treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)

  In terms of the MDS patient population, the natural course and prognosis of MDS patients are highly heterogeneous and treatment must be individualized. Rather than relying solely on the number of primitive cells in the bone marrow, treatment decisions should be based primarily on the International Prognostic Score System (IPSS) criterion, along with a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s age, physical status, and the rapidity of disease progression.  The current international trend in the treatment of MDS is that for most patients with a stable disease course, with persistent hematocrit as the main manifestation and essentially no malignant manifestations, especially for low-risk and elderly MDS patients, the goal of treatment is to improve blood cell counts and maintain a good amount of life treatment, and supportive therapy should be the main or even the only treatment for these patients. Supportive therapy includes: 1. transfusion therapy; 2. iron removal therapy: the indications for iron removal therapy are patients with intermediate-risk or intermediate-risk-Ⅰ MDS with IPSS, who are expected to have a long survival and have already accumulated more than 25 units of red blood cells or serum ferritin greater than 1500ug/L; 3. cytokine therapy: using EFO±G-CSF, there should be studies confirming that the monthly red blood cell transfusion is less than 2 units and Patients with EPO levels less than 500 U/L have an efficiency of up to 74%.  To date, HSCT is the only possible cure for MDS, but the timing of transplantation is particularly important due to the high mortality rate of MDS patients. In addition, ralidomide, 5-azacytidine, and decitabine have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of MDS.  Other treatments include: 1) immunosuppressive agents such as cyclosporine A and anti-thymocyte globulin; 2) low-dose chemotherapy, including melphalan, aclarubicin, and onychomycin; and 3) drugs in the experimental phase, such as thalidomide and arsenic trioxide.