Cytarabine vs.Vidaza

[julkonov]

My mother - 64 y - was diagnosed MDS RAEB2 in May 2011 ( 20% blast ), flow cytometry shows 12-13% blasts, cd45 - low to middle expression, cd11b/-+/, cd33/+/, cd36/+-/, cd117/+/, cd34/+/, HLA-DR /+/, CD71/+/
On 28.06.2011 she made a very big phlegmona of the abdominal wall ( withouth peritonitis) she received it from exercise ( due to overextension of the muscle, then lifting a heavy baggage and considering the disease - hypoplastic bone marrow...)
She was admitted on 22.06.2011 in hematology department with high temperature not able to slow down and a second bone marrow biopsy ( after they treated her in the hospital for 6 days with 3 types of antibiotics simultaneously) shows 65% blasts.So she is diagnosed AML right now and we should begin chemotherapy immediately - cytarabine and anthracycline.
I`d like to ask 1. Is it possible that the recent phlegmona, treated with powerful and 5 different types of antibiotics, and now once again 6 days on powerful antiboitcs - 3 types influenced the % of the blast?
2.Cytarabine or Vidaza for iduction is better?
The doctors here ( i`m writing from Bulgaria) don`t have experience with Vidaza.

Thank you very much for answering me!
Julia

[Ruth Cuadra]

Hello, Julia, and welcome to Marrowforums. I'm sorry to hear that your mother was diagnosed with AML only after her abdominal injury. If I understand the word "phlegmona" correctly, it refers to an infection that would be unrelated to her leukemia but it may have been made worse because of her abnormal blood counts. Her treatment with antibiotics is unlikely to have affected her blast count in such a short time. I think that Cytarabine is the preferred drug for induction chemo. Vidaza is also a chemo drug, but is used primarily to control the progress of MDS.

Regards,
Ruth

[julkonov]

Thank you very much for the answer!

Well, we are hospitalized in Hematology clinic - the biggest in Bulgaria, but i`m not quite sure that the doctors have experience with all new treatment ( if any ), they even don`t make an effort to collect data ( cytogenetics, treatment, response, OS) from the patients who was diagnosed with MDS, MDS related Leukemia and was treated in the clinic, so i can`t count on them to be sure that they will make all the best for treating my mom. She is healthy person, doesn`t have any diseases, she is eating mainly raw food, sprouts, she don`t eat meat at all, or maybe rarely.She is hypothrophic and she wants to live, but she doesn`t confide in the chemo, because it`s not a cure...

I read about Maitake mushrooms and now we are supplying a lot of them.Do you have experience with the Maitake?
I read this : http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69294.cfm

She has changes in the taste - she says that she feels some of the food she is taking with bitter taste in her mouth.I don`t know why is that strange bitter taste for example from tomatos, from honey, sometimes from beet salade...

Do you take some medication, some imunomodulating agents, or some homeopathic drugs or food before the introduction cycle of the chemo?

Good luck to everyone!