ASH 2021 | Re-evaluating the use of IWG 2006 response criteria in MDS

Jan Philipp Bewersdorf, MD, Yale University, New Haven, CT, discusses the use of response criteria from the International Working Group (IWG) 2006, which is currently used for response assessment in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Dr Bewersdorf shares his insights into why the current IWG criteria may not allow meaningful clinical benefits to be represented, and the importance of having clearly defined response criterion when reporting on MDS. Following this, Dr Bewersdorf discusses a recent retrospective analysis that was conducted, which aimed to evaluate the use of current IWG criteria in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR-MDS) treated with frontline hypomethylating agents (HMA) azacytidine and decitabine. Dr Bewersdorf reports on the results from this analysis, including complete remission (CR), overall survival (OS), and marrow complete remission (mCR) seen in patients. He also uses the results from this study to encourage future analyses to be conducted and mentions his plans to re-visit and re-evaluate response criteria for MDS in the future. This interview was filmed at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition Congress, Atlanta, 2021.