Luspatercept for MDS Management: What Data and Clinical Experience Are Still Needed?

Blood Cancers Today hosted a virtual roundtable of clinical experts in management of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). This expert panel’s discussion explored how low-risk MDS is managed today and assessed the impact of new research presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois.

The moderator, Saeed Sadeghi, MD, of UCLA Health in Santa Monica, California, was joined by Clark Alsfeld, MD, of Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jefferson, Louisiana, Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MA, of Duke Health in Durham, North Carolina, and Raji Shameem, MD, of Orlando Health Cancer Institute in Lake Mary, Florida.

In this segment, the panelists take stock of what data, or use experience among clinicians, are still needed to establish luspatercept as a reliable first-line therapeutic agent for low-risk MDS. The experts also talk about clinical trials they look forward to that would enhance clinicians’ knowledge of how to use this agent in this setting, including optimal dosing, timing, and coordination with use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.