Transplant related graft-versus-Myelodysplastic syndrome

po18guy

In 2015 after seven years of treatment for Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma - Not Otherwise Specified (PTCL-NOS) as well as Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma (AITL), I ended up with 26% MyeloDysplastic Syndrome (MDS - 20q deletion) cells in my marrow. Although considered a pre-leukemic cancer, it is quite low risk, unless it picks up another mutation or two. There was no sign of it post-transplant (moderate intensity haploidentical/allogeneic), but it had crept back in by last July and was hovering at the 2.3% or 'minimum residual disease' level.

Although a disappointment, it was not really a concern, except that it disqualified me from clinical trials to control the Graft-versus-Host-Disease from the transplant. A marrow aspiration was taken in December and I was advised on January 2nd that flow cytometry detected zero MDS cells. So, good news. Based on that pathology report, I can now be screened for enrollment in the clinical trial. The drug is a rho-associated coiled coil Kinase 2 inhibitor, so it is easy to understand why the acronym 'ROCK2 inhibitor' has come into play.

This will be clinical trial number four, and I strongly encourage those who are presented with clinical trials to consider participation.