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Originally Posted by stayinghopeful
1) is a stem cell transplant considered a "cure" for mds?
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Yes a successful transplant is considered a cure. Survival rates aren't 100% and transplants can cause their own side effects, but a transplant can eliminate the faulty marrow cells that cause MDS.
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2) How hard is it to find a match for the transplant. My father has 3 sibilings? What is the likelyhood of them being matches? Can his children and wife also be potential matches?
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His wife is very unlikely to be a match. Genetically they are probably like strangers. That doesn't rule it out, but they may not even test a spouse as a potential match.
Children are always at least half-matches but are fairly unlikely to be full matches since they half-match their mother.
Siblings are the best candidates. With three siblings the chances are about 60% that at least one of them will be a match.
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3) Is MDS only located in the bone marrow? Or is it a blood disease that affects the entire body? For instance, can the cancer spread and affect other organs in his body?
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MDS is a disease of cells in the bone marrow. To put it simply, bad cells in the marrow fail to produce healthy and plentiful cells in the circulating blood. Side effects can affect other parts of the body, but the primary risks come directly from low blood counts. For example, a low white count makes a patient susceptible to infection.
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4) how long is the life expectancy for someone with MDS with and without stem cell transplant? If we do not find a donor, can my father live a good and long life with the help of drugs and medications?
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It's extremely hard to say. Every case is different, and statistics based on groups of patients with treatment in prior years are very often not applicable to a new patient. MDS is a really group of related diseases so you can't even group all MDS patients together to make predictions.
The short answer is that your father could live for years with a stem cell transplant and he could live for years without one. He could improve, he could become stable, or his condition could worsen. The blood counts you noted give a snapshot but you need to observe how they change over time.
Please know that many have walked this path, my family among them, and survived to enjoy their lives. Diagnosis is a huge shock but there are treatments to consider, ways to cope and help yourself, and people who are willing to help and support you.