Injectable Hypomethylating Agents for Management of Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Patients' Perspectives on Treatment

Background: Until recently, patients with MDSs could receive HMAs via intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) administration. An oral HMA was recently approved as an alternative to IV/SC administration. This study assessed the impact of IV/SC HMA on MDS patients, and their experience of, challenges with, and views about oral MDS treatment.

Patients And Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey among adult MDS patients (or caregivers as proxies) invited by 2 U.S. MDS patient advocacy groups. Patients were required to have received IV/SC HMA (ie, azacitidine or decitabine) within 6 months of the survey.

Results: The survey was completed by 141 participants (120 patients, 21 caregiver proxies). Median patient age was 63.0 years, 53.9% were women, and 19.8%, 62.4%, and 17.7% had lower-, higher-, or unknown risk scores, respectively. HMA treatments received included SC azacitidine (37%), IV azacitidine (36%), and IV decitabine (27%). Among 89 IV HMA recipients, 74.2% and 69.7% reported treatment-related interference with their social and daily activities, respectively, and 66.3% reported pain related to treatment administration. Following an injection, SC HMA recipients reported pain (94.2%) and interference with daily (86.5%) and social (80.8%) activities. Among the 49.6% of patients who were working, 61.4% felt less productive due to treatment. Most (69.5%) MDS patients indicated they would prefer oral MDS treatment to IV/SC therapies.

Conclusion: Patients receiving IV/SC HMAs experienced pain/discomfort and interference with social and daily activities. The introduction of an oral HMA may alleviate some treatment challenges for MDS patients.