New £1m Clinical Trial Launches to Improve Quality of Life for MDS

Dr Kevin Rouault-Pierre and his team at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, have been awarded a £1 million Cancer Research UK grant to launch a new clinical trial for people living with MDS. In partnership with Dr Onima Chowdhury at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and Oxford University Hospitals, and supported by the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit, the trial will test whether high-dose vitamin B5 can reduce severe anaemia in MDS patients with an SF3B1 gene mutation.

The phase II trial builds on earlier laboratory research showing that vitamin B5 may help restore healthy red blood cell production in this patient group. Over the next five years, around 30 participants across seven UK centres will receive daily oral vitamin B5 for 24 weeks, with researchers monitoring haemoglobin levels, transfusion needs and how the body processes the vitamin.

This simple, low-toxicity approach could offer a much-needed alternative for patients who often rely on lifelong transfusions and have few other therapeutic options. The team hopes positive results could pave the way for international expansion and future combination studies.

Dr Rouault-Pierre presented his research proposal prior to it being funded at the MDS Alliance Annual meeting in Frankfurt in October 2025.

To read more about the study, please follow the link: Barts Cancer Institute