Refractory and Relapsed
Refractory MDS
Some patients still have MDS cells in their bone marrow after treatment. This is called refractory MDS. Refractory MDS is typically treated with a different treatment than the first therapy used. Clinical trials are under way to study more treatments for refractory MDS.
Relapsed MDS
If MDS in your marrow returns and you have a decrease of normal blood cells after a remission, you've relapsed. Relapsed MDS is typically treated with either the same treatment used before or a different standard treatment.
Vaccine therapy and donor lymphocyte infusions are being studied in clinical trials to treat MDS (and other blood cancer) patients with relapsed disease following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
