Genetic profiling can guide stem cell transplantation for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, study finds
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine , the investigators report that genetically profiling a patient's blood cells, while factoring in a patient's age and other factors, can predict the patient's response to a stem cell transplant and help doctors select the most effective combination of pre-transplant therapies. The findings are based on an analysis of blood samples from 1,514 patients with MDS, ranging in age from six months to more than 70 years, performed in collaboration with investigators from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. MDS is a family of diseases in which the bone marrow produces an insufficient supply of healthy blood cells. Treatments vary depending on the specific type of MDS a patient has; donor stem cell transplants are generally used for patients with a high risk of mortality with standard treatments. "Although donor stem cell transplantation is the only curative therapy for MDS, many p...