Blasts

[ScottieS]

Hello to all forum members! I am a newcomer attending the forum from Denver, Colorado.

Question – My father was diagnosed with MDS about 3 years ago and has been taking Revlimid for a year +. He has seen steady fluctuations in his counts. Usually between 22-30. He has transfusions once or twice a month. He recently went in for a BMB and doctors say his blasts are at 4%. Can someone give further insight into blasts and the ranges?

Thank you and best wishes to everyone.

[bill4872]

Scottie-

According to the booklet “Understanding MDS: A PAtient Handbook” (available free from the MDS Foundation- it is an outstandard must-have reference that I just found after 3 years!), blasts (stem cells) are immature blood cells. With MDS, these blasts do not mature correctly and/or die young. The result is an abnormally large percentage of blasts in the bone marrow and fewer than normal mature blood cells in the blood (which accounts for your father’s low 22-30% Hematocrit vs the normal range of 36-52%). According to the table in this book, less than 5% blasts is good, in and of itself. (Blast ranges are 0-5%, 5-10%, 11-20%, and 21-30%, so you are in the lowest range.) But I am not a doctor or anything, I am only reporting what this patient handbook says.

I hope this helps.

Bill

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