A Survival Study in Patients With High Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes Comparing Azacitidine Versus Conventional Care

Comparison/Control Interventions offered the physician three options: * Best supportive care (BSC) alone, * Low-dose cytarabine subcutaneously for 14 days every 28 to 42 days, or * Standard chemotherapy administered for induction as a continuous intravenous infusion of cytarabine over 7 days plus an anthracycline (daunorubicin, idarubicin, or mitoxantrone) on Days 1, 2, and 3; and, for those eligible, 1 or 2 consolidation cycles administered as continuous intravenous infusions of cytarabine for 3 to 7 days with the same anthracycline that was used at induction on Days 1 and 2 (each cycle between 28 to 70 days from the start of the previous cycle). All three options included best supportive care. Neither the experimental group (azacitidine) nor any of the comparison/control options allowed use of erythropoietin. Duration of Intervention: Patients will be treated until death, withdrawal, unacceptable toxicity or conclusion of the study.