Azra Raza

TL;DR: It is concluded that extensive intramedullary cell death may explain the paradox of pancytopenia despite hypercellular marrows in MDS patients and Investigating approaches that protect against PCD in some MDS subsets would be of interest.

TL;DR: Lenalidomide has clinically meaningful activity in transfusion-dependent patients with low- or int-1-risk MDS who lack the deletion 5q karyotypic abnormality.

TL;DR: It was concluded that thalidomide, as a single agent, is effective in improving cytopenias of some MDS patients, especially those who present without excess blasts.

TL;DR: It is proposed that factors present in the microenvironment are inducing apoptosis in all the cells whether stromal or parenchymal, and the expression of high amounts of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta and low amounts of the viability factor GM-CSF may be responsible for the high incidence of PCD leading to ineffective hematopoiesis in MDS.

TL;DR: It is indicated that lenalidomide-responsive patients have a defect in erythroid differentiation, and a strategy for a clinical test to predict patients most likely to respond to the drug is suggested.