Nationwide epidemiological survey of familial myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myeloid leukemia in Japan: a multicenter retrospective study

Abstract

Although several pedigrees of familial myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myeloid leukemia (fMDS/AML) have been reported, the epidemiology and clinical features has been poorly understood. To explore the epidemiology of this entity, we performed a retrospective nationwide epidemiological survey in Japan using questionnaire sheets. The questionnaire was sent to 561 institutions or hospitals certified by Japanese Society of Hematology, unearthing the existence of 41 pedigrees of fMDS/AML. Among them, we obtained the clinical information of 31 patients in 20 pedigrees. The median age of the initial diagnosis was 51 years (range 9–88 years) and the WHO classification 2008 ranged from refractory anemia (RA) to AML. Focusing on the familial MDS patients, refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB)-2 was the largest group (27.3%). The median overall survival (OS) of fMDS and fAML in this study were 71.6 and 12.4 months, and the five-year OS were 61.3 and 50%, respectively.

Keywords:

• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• familial MDS
• familial AML
• nationwide survey
• retrospective study

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to firstly express their gratitude to all the participants, physicians, and co-medical workers. The authors thank Dr. Masao Ogata (Oita University), Dr. Daiichiro Hasegawa (Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Children’s Hospital), Dr. Ken Sato (National Defense Medical College), Dr. Takayuki Ikezoe (Kochi University), Dr. Joji Nagasaki (Fuchu Hospital), Dr. Takamasa Hayashi (Amagasaki Hospital), Dr. Tadashi Koike (Nagaoka Red Cross Hospital), and Dr. Mitsuhiro Matsuda (PL hospital) for providing with the patient information. Finally, the authors also thank Ms. Keiko Tanaka, Ms. Yoko Hokama, Ms. Fumie Ueki, and Ms. Saki Ando for their clerical assistance and Ms. Tomoko Aiga for her support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Research Group on Idiopathic Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes and Grants-in-aid was received from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (Grant H27, H28-Nanchi-Ippan-016).