Hi edo288,
In this article you will find chromosome 9q- in table 2 - the prognosis is supposed to be favorable.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=2413090
I prefer supportive therapy only because I am very afraid of adverse reactions - I told my doctor at dx that I think quality of life is much more important than living longer but feeling ill. My doctor is a specialist in MDS and treatment with Vidaza. I have never heard or read anything about higher risk factors or some irreversable damage in connection with Vidaza.
You know I live in Sweden where we pay the highest taxes in the world and all types of examinations, treatments and hospital care cost almost nothing. I take 2 Neupogen injections/week for my low WBC:s - they cost 100$ per injection and Exjade 1000 mg/day that costs 55$ per day.
As tytd already told you it is not true that 100% of the MDS patients get AML. The most common death cause in MDS is heart failure (like in the rest of the population). The second cause is infections, then bleedings due to low platelets and then AML. The prognosis depends on many factors - if you don't have any other diseases you have a better prognosis.
You should take care of yourself and try to avoid infections - they will decrease all counts
.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A