Hi Joanne,
All patients with MDS are different and nobody knows the prognosis for each person as Neil already told you. I read a summary from an article from researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Clinic where they had patients that had had MDS for 15 years
.
The reserachers wrote that the median survival was more than twice as long after 2000 than between 1980 to 1990 because now we have much better supportive care and more specific treatments like Vidaza.
I think it is true that for example Vidaza isn´t approved in Canada - it is not approved in Europe where I live
. I could get the drug on license if I wanted to but I prefer to wait till there are drugs for low platelets - Vidaza can decrease the platelets.
Many patients are waiting for better drugs or participate in clinical trials if they want to try new drugs. They have many clinical trials in Canada. Your mother belongs to a patient group where the patients have much time to accept their disease without deciding anything now about treatment.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A
69 yo, MDS Interm-1 dx May 2006, transfusion dependent, Desferal for iron overload, neupogen injections for low white blood cells, asymptomatic