Article on Exjade & MDS
 

This was posted on the MDS patient forum. I thought it would be good to have it here also.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/703030

Marlene,

Only registered Medscape members can go to that URL.

Is the article on PubMed too? What's the title?

Oh, I didn't realize that. I must be registered somehow. Let me check it out and get back to you.

It's an article written by medscape journalist and they reference abstracts/studies done by others. So there's not a pubmed equal. There's no cost to register at this site for those who want to read it.

Other than doing a cut/paste, I'm not sure what else to do.

Iron chelation and red blood cells
 

Hi Marlene,
There has been much discussion about iron chelation in MDS. As far as I understand the reseachers that think that chelation is important know more about the effect on immature red blood cells:
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2009/webpr...aper23215.html

I tried Exjade 1000 mg/day and the drug prolonged my transfusion interval from 3 to 6 weeks but my white blood cells decreased so I had to stop the medication :(.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A

Hi Birgitta-A,

Sorry to hear about the drop in white cells. That's a pretty dramatic jump in red cells though. When John was on Exjade, he noticed a very small increase in red cells but nothing real notable. His doc did not think much about the effect or Exjade's potential at the time. But this was 3 years ago when no one was looking at it.

Sounds like Exjade could have two applications....one to chelate and another to boost red cells. It would be good to see a study to find out the lowest possible dose of Exjade that will boost red cells. I believe the first article is really addressing that iron-overload becomes the focus versus the MDS; and to prescribe Exjade based on just FE levels and not take into consideration the type of MDS, is not a "best practice". There are many things to take into consideration when deciding a treatment path.

BTW...thanks again for posting those abstracts this year

Marlene

Exjade in combination with Desferal
 

Hi Marlene,
I think you are right about a low dose of Exjade for the red cells ;)! I read about a member that had a combination of Exjade and Desferal (I am treated with Desferal again) but we have not heard the result yet. Then there are 2 clinical trials with a combination but no results yet.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A