Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of adultmyelodysplastic syndromes
Authors: Sally B. Killick Chris Carter Dominic Culligan Christopher Dalley Emma Das‐Gupta Mark Drummond Helen Enright Gail L. Jones Jonathan Kell Juliet Mills Ghulam Mufti Jane Parker Kavita Raj Alexander Sternberg Paresh Vyas David Bowen British Committee for Standards in Haematology
Introduction
The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of malignant haematopoietic disorders characterized by dysplastic changes in one or more cell lineages, ineffective haematopoiesis and a variable predilection to development of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) (Swerdlow et al, 2008). The incidence of MDS is approximately 4/100 000 population/year, but it is predominantly a disease of the elderly with an incidence of > 30/100 000/year over the age of 70 years.
Patients with suspected MDS should be assessed by a haematologist. As MDS is considered a rare or ‘orphan’ malignancy, patients should always be given the opportunity to be reviewed by a regional or national haematologist with a specific interest in MDS. All patients with a diagnosis of MDS must be discussed at a multi‐disciplinary meeting (MDT), which should include allogeneic stem cell transplant representation. All patients diagnosed with MDS should be reported to the National Cancer Registry via the MDT, and to MDS‐specific registries if appropriate.
