Hi Zoe, Ruth and Lynn,
All the new epigenic drugs like Vidaza and histone deacetylase inhibitors have a long response time – you often need at least four treatment cycles.
Yes, Epival like Vidaza, Revlimid and all other drugs for MDS as I have read about have haematological adverse effects because they damage healthy blood cells too
.
I don´t know why the trial with Decitabine and Valproic acid at MD Anderson Cancer Center was cancelled but it can depend on that Vidaza seems to be a better drug than Decitabine and MGCD0103 really is a much better histone deacetylase inhibitor than Valproic acid, so it´s better for the patients to get the best drugs.
Here is a link about the new epigenic drugs – hypomethylating drugs like Vidaza and histone acetylase inhibitors like Epival, Zolinza and MGCD0103:
http://tinyurl.com/5fyzsf
Kind regards
Birgitta-A