What is Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)?

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of diverse bone marrow disorders in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. MDS is often referred to as a “bone marrow failure disorder”. MDS is primarily a disease of the elderly, but can affect younger patients as well.

In MDS, the blood stem cells (immature cells) do not become healthy red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. These immature blood cells, called blasts, do not work the way they should and either die in the bone marrow or soon after they go into the blood. This leaves less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets to develop in the bone marrow. When there are fewer healthy blood cells, infection, anemia, or easy bleeding may occur.

What are the U.S. Statistics for MDS? 

Between 12,000 - 20,000 people are diagnosed with MDS in the U.S. every year with around 87,000 new cases worldwide. It is estimated that between 60,000 - 170,000 people are currently living with MDS in the United States. About 30% of all MDS patients progress into Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

For patients with Low Risk MDS (LR-MDS) who do not receive a bone marrow transplant, average survival is 6 years. Patients with High-Risk MDS (HR-MDS) have an average survival of around five months.

Helpful MDS Glossary

What are MDS Symptoms?

Symptoms of MDS are related to low blood counts. Low counts of different blood cell types can result in different symptoms like tiredness, low energy, frequent infections, bruising, bleeding, etc. 

Why Do People Get Myelodysplastic Syndrome?

The exact cause of myelodysplastic syndromes isn't known. Most people with MDS have no identifiable, specific cause for their disease (idiopathic). However, certain factors can increase the risk of developing the disease. 

What are the Types of Myelodysplastic Syndromes?

There are several types of myelodysplastic syndromes. The types are based on how the cells in the bone marrow look under a microscope. They include:

• Refractory cytopenia with unilineage dysplasia (RCUD): This type affects only one type of blood cell — red cells, white cells or platelets.
• Refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS): This type involves low red blood cell counts, with or without low white blood cell or platelet counts.
• Refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD): This type affects two or three types of blood cells — red cells, white cells and/or platelets.
• Refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB): In this type, the bone marrow has too many immature white blood cells (blasts).
• Myelodysplastic syndrome, unclassifiable (MDS-U): This type is diagnosed when the condition doesn't fit into any of the other categories.
• Myelodysplastic syndrome associated with an isolated del(5q) chromosome abnormality: This type has a specific chromosome abnormality in the bone marrow cells.

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