Impact on survival of different treatments for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

Therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) often achieve hematological responses but their impact on overall survival has generally not been evaluated. The Duesseldorf MDS Registry allowed us to perform matched-pair analyses to assess a possible survival benefit of treatment with thalidomide, valproic acid, low-dose Ara-C, antithymocyte globulin (ATG), induction chemotherapy, or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). For all treatment modalities, lengthening of survival was restricted to certain subgroups of patients. With the exception of allo-SCT, MDS treatment was generally palliative. Recently, epigenetic treatment with demethylating agents proved to be the first therapy that can significantly prolong survival in patients with higher-risk MDS.