Hi Helen,
Yes, patients with isolated 5q- have the best prognosis of all MDS groups but some of them do transform to AML and in these patients they have found p53 and aberrant cytoplasmic nucleophosmine in the young blood cells in the bone marrow.
Regarding fresh blood you are right - blood that is more than 14 days old can be less effective
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...nsfusions.html
I have so much antibodies that it is very difficult to find blood that is OK for me. Obviously they have found that fresh blood suits me better so my blood is never more than 4 days old.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A