MDS Treatment Options

Treatment options for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes range from supportive care that helps relieve symptoms to aggressive treatment that may slow or prevent progression of the disease.

Three types of standard treatment are used:

Chemotherapy:
In myelodysplastic syndromes, chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of immature blood cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen, the drugs mainly affect cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy). The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the disease being treated.

Supportive Care:
Supportive care is given to lessen the problems caused by the disease or its treatment. Supportive care may include the following:

Transfusion Therapy
Growth Factor Therapy
Drug Therapy

Chemotherapy with Stem Cell Transplant.
Stem cell transplant is a method of giving chemotherapy and replacing blood-forming cells destroyed by the treatment. Stem cells (immature blood cells) are removed from the blood or bone marrow of a donor and are frozen for storage. After the chemotherapy is completed, the stored stem cells are thawed and given back to the patient through an infusion. These reinfused stem cells grow into (and restore) the body's blood cells.