Vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression in myelodysplastic syndrome bone marrow cells: biological and clinical implications.

In myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may have regulatory effects on the hematopoietic system and contribute to disease progression. We analyzed by immunocytochemistry VEGF expression in bone marrow (BM) cells from 188 patients with MDS and 96 non-hemopathic subjects. We also measured VEGF BM plasma levels and in vitro VEGF release.

The genomic landscape of myeloid neoplasms with myelodysplasia and its clinical implications.

Purpose Of Review: This article will review the most recent advances in the understanding of the genetic basis of myeloid neoplasms with myelodysplasia and will discuss its clinical implications.

Recent Findings: Recurrent somatic mutations have been identified in about 90% of patients with myeloid neoplasms with myelodysplasia, involving genes of RNA splicing, DNA methylation, histone modification, transcription regulation, DNA repair, signal transduction, and cohesin complex. Somatic mutations are acquired in a linear manner in a multipotent hematopoietic stem cell, resulting in a growth advantage at the stem cell level and in defective differentiation and maturation of hematopoietic precursors.

SF3B1 mutation identifies a distinct subset of myelodysplastic syndrome with ring sideroblasts.

Refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS) is a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) characterized by isolated erythroid dysplasia and 15% or more bone marrow ring sideroblasts. Ring sideroblasts are found also in other MDS subtypes, such as refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia and ring sideroblasts (RCMD-RS). A high prevalence of somatic mutations of SF3B1 was reported in these conditions.

Clinical and biological implications of driver mutations in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of chronic hematological malignancies characterized by dysplasia, ineffective hematopoiesis and a variable risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia. Sequencing of MDS genomes has identified mutations in genes implicated in RNA splicing, DNA modification, chromatin regulation, and cell signaling. We sequenced 111 genes across 738 patients with MDS or closely related neoplasms (including chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and MDS-myeloproliferative neoplasms) to explore the role of acquired mutations in MDS biology and clinical phenotype.

Development and validation of a prognostic scoring system for patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

The natural course of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is highly variable but a widely accepted prognostic scoring system for patients with CMML is not available. The main aim of this study was to develop a new CMML-specific prognostic scoring system (CPSS) in a large series of 558 patients with CMML (training cohort, Spanish Group of Myelodysplastic Syndromes) and to validate it in an independent series of 274 patients (validation cohort, Heinrich Heine University Hospital, Düsseldorf, Germany, and San Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Italy). The most relevant variables for overall survival (OS) and evolution to acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) were FAB and WHO CMML subtypes, CMML-specific cytogenetic risk classification, and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion dependency.

Inappropriately low hepcidin levels in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome carrying a somatic mutation of SF3B1.

Somatic mutations of the RNA splicing machinery have been recently identified in myelodysplastic syndromes. In particular, a strong association has been found between SF3B1 mutation and refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts, a condition characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis and parenchymal iron overload. We studied the relationship between SF3B1 mutation, erythroid activity and hepcidin levels in myelodysplastic syndrome patients.

Clinical significance of SF3B1 mutations in myelodysplastic syndromes and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms.

In a previous study, we identified somatic mutations of SF3B1, a gene encoding a core component of RNA splicing machinery, in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Here, we define the clinical significance of these mutations in MDS and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). The coding exons of SF3B1 were screened using massively parallel pyrosequencing in patients with MDS, MDS/MPN, or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) evolving from MDS.

Risk stratification based on both disease status and extra-hematologic comorbidities in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

The incidence of myelodysplastic syndromes increases with age and a high prevalence of co-morbid conditions has been reported in these patients. So far, risk assessment in myelodysplastic syndromes has been mainly based on disease status. We studied the prognostic impact of comorbidity on the natural history of myelodysplastic syndrome with the aim of developing novel tools for risk assessment.