[MDSPerth]

Pauls situation was quite different to hypercellular marrow. What he was producing were reasonably healthy cells, he just was not producing enough of them (so to use treatments like vidaza etc. would not have suited him, it would have killed off the healthy cells he was producing) Therefore, the growth hormones (or transfusions) were the only treatments open to him. As far as transfusions go, this is fine for RBC or platelets, but you cannot transfuse white blood cells. Pauls white blood cells, hence his neutrophils were the worst ones affected - at the time of diagnosis they were 0.25. His diagnosis was as at the higher end of Intermediate 2/lower end of High risk, and he was 61 at that time.

My understanding of MDS is that it is a clonal disease, therefore the unhealthy cells tend to multiply themselves. Hence if growth factors are used, you run the risk of the unhealth cells multiplying themselves out faster than perhaps they would have done, hence the risk of increasing blast cells (which are immature red blood cells).

The above is only my understanding after reading and discussions with the doctor, I may have it wrong, but what I can say is that everything I have read and discussed with the doctor indicates that the two growth factors used together shows better results.

Good luck with your mum for her treatment. Its a very worrying time!