What is myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)?

When a 6-year-old boy who loves Facebook missed Halloween because of a rare blood disorder, inpatient nurses at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center stepped in. They organized a belated Halloween celebration, and Boston Children’s Hospital posted a photo on its Facebook page, along with a request “to show him support and cheer him on.” Now it was Facebook users’ turn to step in, and step in they did. By the next morning, the post had more than 10,000 likes. Local media and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute posted the story on their Facebook pages, leading to thousands more likes. By the next week, the Boston Children’s post had attracted more than 17,000. The disease that caused young Drew to miss Halloween is pediatric myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), for which he was treated with a stem cell transplant. While MDS is more common in adults – “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts was treated for it in 2012 – it occurs in only four of every million children. What is pediatric myelosdysplastic syndrome? MDS develops in the bone marrow, the soft, spongy center of long bones that produces white blood cells that fight infection, red blood cells that carry oxygen and platelets that help blood clot to stop bleeding. The cells in the bone marrow that produce these cells are called blood stem cells. MDS disturbs the process by which stem cells mature to become red cells, white cells and platelets. About one-third of children with MDS dev...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Cancer Source Type: news