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Harry,
(from my personal experience)... It depends upon his initial response to the treatment...
I personally think that if your dad only did one treatment of Vidaza, there is no way the doctor could have determined that the treatment was not working for him...
My self as well as many others needed time for the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd treatment to determine effectiveness... My 1st treament did little, and actually hurt some of my counts (altough Dacogen not Vidaza)...
As for your question as to the length of efficacy (how long will it work), that is an unknown, but as I said it may depend upon initial response...
I went into full remission after two Dacogen treatments (four treatments is considered a full course), and my doctor told me recently, that considering my strong initial response to Dacogen, I may have seen 2-3 years of full remission if I stayed on Dacogen... BUT the fact that I achieved full remission, as well as all of my positive attributes, 10/10 sibling donor, excellent general health, and relative youth, made me an ideal candidate for a stem cell transplant...
As she put it, why would I wait for something to go wrong...
Also many have seen similar or even longer responses with Vidaza...
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Married, father of three daughters; now 46; diagnosed w/ Major form MDS 6/18/2013; had low counts across the board; Multiple chromosome abnormalities; Finished 2nd round Dacogen 9/13; SCT - Oct. 31, 2013; Sibling match 10/10  ; 5.5% blasts down to 3%, now 1% (post BMT)
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