Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

What are myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)?

Myelodysplastic syndromes are rare types of blood cancer that cause your bone marrow to produce too many dysplastic blood cells. When we say cells are ‘dysplastic’, it means they are abnormal and unhealthy.

When your body notices dysplastic blood cells, it usually tries to destroy them soon after they leave the bone marrow.

If you have MDS, you cannot produce enough healthy blood cells. This means you might:

• feel very tired
• feel very weak
• bleed or bruise more easily.

MDS is more common in people over the age of 70.

Treatments for MDS

Doctors put different types of MDS into low-risk and high-risk groups based on how likely they are to develop into acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). These groups also help doctors choose the most effective treatment option:

• If you have low-risk MDS, you might not need treatment straight away. You might have regular blood transfusions and medication to help manage your symptoms.
• If you have more severe or high-risk MDS, you might have chemotherapy or sometimes a stem cell transplant. You’ll usually have an allogeneic transplant, which means someone else donates their stem cells to you.

Where to find support for MDS

Anthony Nolan supports people with all sorts of conditions that might use stem cells or cell therapies for treatment. But other organisations support people affected by specific blood cancers like MDS.

To find out more about MDS symptoms, diagnosis and treatments, you can visit:

• Blood Cancer UK – MDS
• Cancer Research UK – MDS
• MDS UK Patient Support Group

To find advice and support for living with cancer, you can visit:

• Anthony Nolan Patients and Families Forum
• Cancer Research Patient Forum
• Macmillan’s Online Community
• Marie Curie – Online Community