new treatments aimed at eliminating blood chaos
Myelodysplastic syndrome is a rare blood cancer that carries various risks. Fortunately, there are laboratories that have developed innovations in recent years to combat its effects.
About 3,000 new cases of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are diagnosed every year in Spain. Although these estimates from the Spanish Group of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (GESMD) reflect that it is by no means a common condition, it can have a significant impact on those who suffer from it, especially among people over 70 years of age and mainly in men.
Essentially, it is a cancer that disrupts the production of blood cells in the bone marrow in terms of number and maturation. Its main difficulty lies in its heterogeneity, since in its mildest form it may consist only of anemia, but in patients at the highest risk it can develop into acute myeloid leukemia. And that’s what it does There are significant differences between median survival rates and types of treatment.
Fortunately, said Reyes Calzada, head of medicine at Bristol’s Myers Squibb Department of Hematology, “research is booming in the world’s leading laboratories.” Among them is the same pharmaceutical company that almost 20 years searching for solutions in hematology “To drive innovation and ensure that all people with hematological cancer have a bright future.”
One of the main concerns for patients with low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome is Blood transfusions should be avoided or minimized. Mainly due to the associated complications and negative impact on their quality of life.
This is largely due to long hours of hospitalization necessary, which become more frequent as the disease progresses. This is also the cause of numerous complications associated with the accumulation of iron in the body.
Recent innovations that Bristol Myers Squibb has added to existing therapeutic options for this disease include drugs that act as an erythroid maturation agent, a recombinant fusion protein that binds selected ligands of the transforming growth factor (TGF) superfamily. By binding to specific endogenous ligands (eg, GDF 11), “red blood cell differentiation occurs through the maturation of late erythroid precursors (normoblasts) in the bone marrow,” as the hematologist points out. That is, it helps the body naturally produce more red blood cells, reducing the need for blood transfusions, as well as increasing hemoglobin levels. Moreover, as he argues, “its inclusion in the therapeutic repertoire not only expands the available options, but also opens new doors to more personalized and effective treatment“.
For patients suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome, Dr. Calzada reminds them that they face significant treatment challenges. Although various treatment options have been developed, many of these patients They still lack access to effective treatment.
Whether these cases are more serious or not, the Bristol Myers Squibb specialist notes that the medical problem requires “multidisciplinary approach“And this happens, on the one hand, by better defining the patient’s profile in terms of precise genetic diagnostics to determine the type of myelodysplastic syndrome from which he suffers. And on the other hand, by developing a clearer understanding of how the disease progresses … in the body and how it affects various organs such as the lungs or liver, in addition to the bone marrow itself. In this sense, “the use of tools such as IPSS-M, which is a molecular prognostic index and mutation analysis in genes and application of molecular biology techniques such as next generation represent significant progress,” he says.
ADVANCES IN IMMUNOTHERAPY
On the other side, The immune system has become a hot topic for the treatment of this type of pathology. Thus, Dr. Calzada refers to the potential that Bristol Myers Squibb attributes to breakthrough innovations such as the next generation of immunomodulators, cellular modulators, or CELMoDs.
These are medications that are administered orally and that They act as a booster to the immune system. body to be more effective against diseases such as multiple myeloma.
Just as revolutionary, if not more revolutionary, is so-called CAR-T cell therapy, which uses a patient’s own T cells (a type of white blood cell that plays a critical role in the immune system) to fight cancer. As the hematologist points out, this treatment proves “pextremely promising results and is emerging as one of the most powerful treatment options for hematologic cancers.”
Of course, although immunotherapy continues to be a promising strategy, the diversity of this disease makes its application challenging. The good news, Reyes Calzada concludes, is that “the introduction of cell therapy will open the door to a more personalized approach“Not only in hematological patients, but also in autoimmune pathologies such as multiple sclerosis and lupus erythematosus.”