MDS Database Study Looks at Patient Quality of Life by Transfusion Dependency Status

A database study of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) provides a picture of patients’ quality of life by change or persistence in transfusion dependency status. The study was recently published in Leukemia & Lymphoma.

“Achieving transfusion independence in MDS correlates with improved quality of life, whereas reverting to transfusion dependence more significantly worsens overall quality of life and function scores,” wrote lead author for the study Rena Buckstein, MD, FRCPC, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada.

The authors’ investigation incorporated the data of 1,120 patients from a Canadian national MDS registry. They organized the patients into four categories by transfusion status of having converted from dependence to independence, from independence to dependence, maintained dependence, or maintained independence.

The authors’ analysis found that overall survival among the four groups was superior for patients who had maintained transfusion independence, intermediate for patients who had converted from dependence to independence or vice versa, and worse in patients who had maintained dependence.

The authors also specifically analyzed data from 656 patients who had undergone treatment. They found that those who converted from transfusion dependence to independence saw improved global quality of life scores, as well as an improvement trend in social function and physical scores. Patients who converted from independence to dependence had declines in quality of life, social function, physical scores, and especially reported fatigue.

Treated patients who remained transfusion dependent reported worsening fatigue. Those who remained independent experienced comparatively mild declines in several quality of life measures.

Reference

Wan BA, Alibhai SMH, Chodirker L, et al. Improvement in quality of life in MDS patients who become transfusion independent after treatment. Leuk Lymphoma. 2024. doi:10.1080/10428194.2024.2422844