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Treatment Options for Myelodysplastic Syndromes

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

De Novo and Secondary Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Recommended Related to Blood Disorders

Polycythemia Vera

Note: Some citations in the text of this section are followed by a level of evidence. The PDQ editorial boards use a formal ranking system to help the reader judge the strength of evidence linked to the reported results of a therapeutic strategy. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Levels of Evidence for more information.) Disease Overview The proposed revised World Health Organization criteria for the diagnosis of polycythemia vera (p. vera) requires two major criteria and one minor criterion...

Read the Polycythemia Vera article > >

Treatment of de novo and secondary myelodysplastic syndromes may include the following:

Supportive care with transfusiontherapy.
High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor.
Supportive care with growth factortherapy.
Chemotherapy with azacitidine, decitabine, or other anticancer drugs.
Supportive care with drug therapy.
A clinical trial of a new anticancer drug.
A clinical trial of low-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor.
A clinical trial of a combination of treatments.
A clinical trial of growth factor therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with de novo myelodysplastic syndromes and secondary myelodysplastic syndromes. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Previously Treated Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Treatment of previously treated myelodysplastic syndromes may include the following:

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor.
Chemotherapy with azacitidine or decitabine.
Supportive care with transfusiontherapy, growth factor therapy, and/or drug therapy.
A clinical trial of low-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor.
A clinical trial of new drug therapy.
A clinical trial of a combination of treatments.
A clinical trial of growth factor therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with previously treated myelodysplastic syndromes. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

WebMD Public Information from the National Cancer Institute