Spotlight on decitabine for myelodysplastic syndromes in Chinese patients

Abstract

Yu Jing,1,* Xue Shen,2,* Qian Mei,3 Weidong Han3 1Department of Hematology, PLA General Hospital, 2Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, 3Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medicine, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a group of heterogeneous clonal hematopoietic stem cell malignancies with advanced median age. The silencing of tumor suppressor genes caused by DNA hypermethylation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of MDS. Decitabine, the available hypomethylating agent, is successfully used for the treatment and improves the outcome of MDS, and has become one of the most frequently administered disease-modifying therapies. With an aging population and a growing number of people exposed to benzene, the incidence of MDS has been increasing rapidly. The blinded regimen choice and the lack of a unified strategy create challenges for the treatment of MDS. Here, we present a review of clinical progress and prospects of decitabine treatment of MDS in the People’s Republic of China. We also discuss the optimization of therapy issues to improve the cure rate and prolong survival in patients with MDS. Keywords: myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs), decitabine, hypomethylating agents, People’s Republic of China, traditional Chinese medicine