Myelodysplastic syndromes over time: A comparison of two patient cohorts

Background: With advances in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), patient cohorts from different time periods might be different. Objectives: To compare presentation and outcomes between two cohorts. Methods: Data were collected from George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA 1986–1987 (DC), and Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel 1999–2009 (TA). Results: The study comprised 227 patients (139 TA, 88 DC). TA patients were older (75.4 ± 9.8 vs. 63.8 ± 14.3 years, P < 0.001) and had more cardiovascular diseases (56.8% vs. 14.8%, P < 0.001), fewer cytopenias (1.67 ± 0.82 vs. 2.0 ± 0.93, P = 0.003), and lower mean corpuscular volume (94.3 ± 9.9 fl vs. 100.5 ± 15.3 fl, P < 0.001). Hemoglobin, leukocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts were similar. More TA patients had dysplasias. Bone marrow cellularity and cytogenetics were similar, but more TA patients had blasts < 5% (73.4% vs. 50.6%, P = 0.003). More TA patients had early French-American-British (FAB) disease (66.9% vs. 40.9%, P < 0.001) and lower risk disease per International Prognostic Scoring System (81% vs. 50%, P < 0.001). The 5 year survival (5YS) of TA patients was not significantly greater (62% vs. 55%). 5YS by FAB was also slightly greater for TA patients (77% vs. 65% for early FAB; 43% vs. 37% for advanced FAB, P > 0.05). Conclusions: Although patients diagnosed with MDS at a later period were older and had more cardiovascular comorbidities, they had fewer cytopenias, tended to have earlier disease, and had minimally greater, but not significant, 5YS.