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With medical oncologist Emmanuel Besa, M.D.’s arrival at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Jefferson is now home to a new Center of Excellence in the research, diagnosis and treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a designation given by the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation.
 
MDS refers to a range of disorders caused by the bone marrow not making enough healthy, mature red blood cells. About 15,000 to 20,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States and as many as 50,000 Americans currently have the syndrome. MDS, which can be life-threatening, is more common than leukemia; in about one-third of the cases, individuals go on to develop leukemia. In many cases, individuals live for many years with disease. Those with MDS usually have symptoms such as fatigue, anemia, recurring infections and need constant blood transfusions.
 
Dr. Besa, professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and at Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center, came to Jefferson last year from the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital and the Drexel University College of Medicine.

According to Dr. Besa, many of the elderly leukemia patients he sees originally had MDS. It frequently “transforms” into acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML, an often deadly form the disease.

Dr. Besa leads a number of clinical trials of new drugs against MDS. He says MDS is increasing, since it is common in the elderly and the population is aging. He notes that in some cases, drugs may have limited use because of the age of the patients. Bone marrow transplant increasingly is seen as an option.

Dr. Besa says it’s still difficult to diagnose such patients, and it is important to be at a tertiary care hospital such as Jefferson because of the wide range of treatment options and comprehensive care.

Prior to coming to Jefferson, Dr. Besa was professor of medicine from 1994 to 2004 at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University. He was assistant professor of medicine and associate professor of medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1976 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1994, respectively. He was assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine from 1975 to 1976.

He is a member of many national and international societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology. He is a member of many editorial boards and reviews scientific manuscripts for a number of journals, including Blood. He has published widely in such journals as the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Archives of Internal Medicine and The Lancet.

He received a bachelor degree in 1962 from the University of the Philippines and a doctor of medicine in 1967 from the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines in Manila. He was a medical resident at the University of Pennsylvania’s Presbyterian Hospital from 1970 to 1971.