Clinical Trial 18926

Study Title

The National Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Study

Summary

The purpose of this project is to collect blood, bone marrow and other tissues (eyebrow hairs, cells from the inside of the participant¿s cheek (also called buccal cells), and/or skin) and information from participants to investigate how their disease changes over time. This knowledge will allow doctors to better understand how MDS changes over time and may lead to better ways to prevent, detect, and treat MDS.

Objective

1. To develop a high-quality clinical database containing clinical history, including environmental exposure history, presenting signs and symptoms, diagnostic testing results, co-existing diseases, therapies and response to therapies, disease progression, quality of life and survival. 2. To develop a high-quality biorepository linked to the clinical data that will facilitate diverse studies, including genetic, epigenetic, immunologic, proteomic, and cell-functional and cell-phenotypic studies through the development of (details described further in the Manual of Procedures): - Central communication with the biorepository to ensure timely and accurate collections and biospecimen data appended to the clinical database; - Defined standard operating procedures for the collection, processing, storage and distribution, with special emphasis on processing protocols fit-for-purpose to sample requirements for downstream testing; - Quality management procedures to ensure minimal numbers of errors in the management of the biospecimens. 3. To facilitate broad use of these linked data and specimens to support studies focused on: - Improving diagnostic accuracy, risk-stratification and prognostication, and medical decision-making in MDS; - Understanding quality of life and its relationship to changing disease and treatment status; - Understanding the pathogenesis of MDS and diverse MDS subtypes, including genetic, epigenetic, immunologic mechanisms; - Optimizing treatment strategies for specific subtypes of MDS; - Identifying novel biomarkers for MDS outcomes; and - Identifying novel targets for therapeutic interventions in MDS.