New Risk Model for MDS Introduced
A new risk model for myelodysplastic syndrome was recently found by researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The model is able to provide researchers with survival projections for those living with myelodysplastic syndrome that can be applied to any patient, no matter what stage of the disease they are at.
"The previous prognostic model for MDS applies only to the newly diagnosed patient, so once therapy begins or the disease progresses, it cannot help guide our decisions," explains the study’s lead author Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., chair of M. D. Anderson's Department of Leukemia. ‘Our new model, developed by analyzing 1,915 patients over 12 years, is applicable to any patient with MDS at any time during the course of the disease.”
New Model Proves to be Better Than Existing One
An existing model, which is called the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), was developed before there were effective MDS treatments available for patients. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a type of cancer that affects the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in the human body. Although researchers have found that there are many causes of the illness, exposure to benzene is found to be one of main reasons people develop this sometime life threatening condition.
The M. D. Anderson prognostic model that was recently developed, adjusts periodically after the patient is diagnosed with the illness. The model reportedly assigns points based upon a combination of age, platelet count, anemia, percentage of cancerous cells, or blasts, in the bone marrow, and any abnormalities that are found in the chromosomes.
How the New Model Was Tested
This new model was tested on 958 trial patients, who were separated into four prognostic groups with significantly different outcomes. The patients who were considered to be low-risk supposedly had a median survival of 54 months and 63 percent survived for an average of three years, compared with 6 months and 4 percent for patients who were of high risk.
These results were compared in a separate test group of 957 patients and the model was also documented as being highly effective for 507 patients who were newly diagnosed.
