The Association of VISTA and Prognostic Score in MDS Patients
Myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, is a rare blood cancer that primarily affects elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Death is common by infection, excessive blood loss, and development into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a yearly incidence of 25 in 100,000 of those 65 and older. MDS is especially deadly as there is no chemotherapeutic curative treatment available and patient care is limited to symptom management. The survival rate of high risk individuals is less than 3 years. There is a significant need for a novel drug target. One possible target that is explored in this study is the intermembrane protein VISTA. Our hypothesis is that MDS cells will have a greater level of protein expression when compared to healthy controls and that between MDS patients, those with higher VISTA expression will have a worse prognostic score as defined by an international scoring system. If these two facts are shown to be true, further studies can be conducted on the effectiveness of targeting VISTA and the associated gene to create a new targeted therapy option.