Hi Gabe. I hope you can find some information here that will help you and your friend. You can also get a free packet about MDS from the
Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation.
The BMBs (bone marrow biopsies) were diagnostic tests used to identify the disease and judge the subtype or severity. One measure of severity is the percentage of immature blood-forming cells, called blasts. Another is based on the number and types of abnormal chromosomes. These measures can change over time so it's not uncommon for patients to have multiple BMBs.
A bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplant can cure MDS, but can be a rough experience for some. Your friend's relatively young age works in his favor. If he's been generally healthy other than the MDS, that's a good factor too. You also want the best match between the donor and recipient based on blood antigens, and with 22 potential matches he's likely to have a very good match.
My wife documented her 1998 transplant for MDS on her
Profile Page but now, ten years later, transplant procedures have improved greatly, and many patients have shorter transplants and less severe side effects. That's not to say that it's easy, but that there's much reason to be optimistic about curing MDS this way.
Feel free to look around these forums for personal stories, and ask any questions you have. We're patients and caregivers, but we've educated ourselves quite a bit about MDS, to help ourselves and each other.