Clinical outcome of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome-unclassifiable (MDS-U): single center experience

Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndrome unclassifiable (MDS-U) is a small subtype of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, rare literature exists in terms of natural progression and clinical outcome of patients with MDS-U. In the present study, we investigated the characteristics and the clinical outcomes of patients categorized as MDS-U based on 2008 World Health Organization criteria (WHO) in a single center comparing to other MDS groups. Out of eight hundred and two patients who met WHO criteria for MDS at our institution, ninety patients (11%) were initially classified as MDS-U. Upon pathological review, only half of the cases were confirmed to be MDS-U. With follow up, half of the MDS-U cases were reclassified to another subtype. We found neither significant difference in median overall survival nor in risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia when comparing MDS-U to other MDS groups. Additional larger studies are needed to confirm our results.

Keywords:

• Myelodysplastic syndrome
• unclassifiable
• World Health Organization
• overall survival

Acknowledgment

Part of this manuscript was accepted at the American Society of Hematology 2014.

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10428194.2019.1581930.