Dr. Zeidan Discusses Pressing Questions in Lower-Risk MDS

“The HemOnc Pulse” was live for the first time in Chicago, Illinois on May 3-4, and host, Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP, spoke one-on-one with Amer Zeidan, MBBS, of Yale School of Medicine about the most pressing unanswered questions for research related to myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Dr. Zeidan suggested that, while more and more questions keep popping up for all hematologic malignancies, there have been many developments in MDS populations that call for additional research.

“MDS, especially in the lower-risk disease, has seen very important developments over the last two years in particular, and we moved from not having really any important options to treat patients to having multiple drugs,” Dr. Zeidan noted. “Now in addition to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and lenalidomide, we have seen the approval of luspatercept—initially second-line and now frontline—and, of course, we have impending approval of imetelstat.”

The indication for luspatercept was expanded by the FDA to include first-line therapy based on the interim data readout from the phase III COMMANDS trial. In the study, luspatercept was superior to epoetin alfa for achieving transfusion independence and increasing hemoglobin in lower-risk MDS.

Additionally, the European Commission recently granted full Marketing Authorization to luspatercept for anemia in adult patients with nontransfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Related: European Commission Grants Marketing Authorization to Luspatercept