An article titled
Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny, published in the January 18, 2010 issue of
Time Magazine, discussed
epigenetics, the field in which scientists study how and why parts of a genome are switched on and off, producing changes to gene behavior while the genes themselves remain intact.
The article by John Cloud reported that drugs to manipulate epigenetic marks in order to treat illness are being developed, and mentioned Vidaza (azacytidine) in particular:
In 2004 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an epigenetic drug for the first time. Azacitidine is used to treat patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (usually abbreviated, a bit oddly, to MDS), a group of rare and deadly blood malignancies. The drug uses epigenetic marks to dial down genes in blood precursor cells that have become overexpressed. According to Celgene Corp. - the Summit, N.J., company that makes azacitidine - people given a diagnosis of serious MDS live a median of two years on azacitidine; those taking conventional blood medications live just 15 months.
The bone marrow failure community welcomes public attention for MDS and its treatments, but the phrase "serious MDS" wasn't defined and the statistics may have been misleading to some readers.
A Letter to the Editor by Dr. Richard Stone and Dr. Mikkael Sekeres of the
AA&MDSIF Medical Advisory Board was published in the February 1, 2010 issue of
Time Magazine:
It is important to clarify for your readers that not all those who receive a diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) will die within two years of getting it, regardless of whether they take "conventional blood medications" or azacitidine. Of the estimated 60,000 people living with MDS in the U.S., 75% have a lower-risk diagnosis, providing a much less ominous prognosis. Research indicates that lower-risk MDS patients under age 70 survive, on average, four to nine years after diagnosis, meaning that some MDS patients live much longer.
Marrowforums reminds patients that averages don't apply to individuals and that survival statistics are always based on data from prior years. Because medical research and practice continue to bring us new and improved treatments and treatment techniques, the survival statistics today are better than those from the past.