Acute erythroid neoplastic proliferations. A biological study based on 62 patients.

Background And Objectives: The terms acute erythroleukemia and AML-M6 are defined in the FAB classification as proliferations of dysplastic erythroid elements mixed with blasts of myeloid origin, but pure erythroid leukemias are not included. The recent WHO classification has a category of acute myeloid leukemia not otherwise categorized, which includes acute erythroid leukemia (M6) of two subtypes: M6a-erythroleukemia (erythroid/myeloid) and M6b-pure erythroid leukemia. The aims of this co-operative study were to discover the incidences of these different subtypes, and pay special attention to the morphology of these entities.

Incidence and characteristics of lymphoid malignancies in untreated myelodysplastic syndromes.

We have analyzed 1,198 patients with untreated myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with two main objectives: (1) to determine the prevalence of lymphoid malignancies (LM) in MDS patients; and (2) to ascertain whether there is some relationship between the MDS subtype and the LM type. In fourteen of 1,198 primary MDS patients (1%) (4 with refractory anemia, 3 with refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts, 2 with refractory anemia with excess of blasts and 5 with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia) a LM was detected. In all cases, the LM was of the B-cell type: 6 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 5 cases of lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma, and 3 cases of multiple myeloma.

Cytogenetic studies in five patients with Sézary syndrome.

A cytogenetic study was performed in five patients with Sézary syndrome. Metaphases were obtained from a phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocyte culture. The five patients showed abnormal karyotypes.

Isochromosome 17q as a sole anomaly: a distinct myelodysplastic syndrome entity?

We report four patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with isochromosome i(17q) as the sole chromosomal anomaly. One patient was classified as refractory anemia (RA) and three as refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB). All four patients shared several features such as male sex, advanced age, severe anemia, as well as a bone marrow with myeloproliferative characteristics: hypercellularity, prominent baso- and eosinophilia, and marked increase of micromegakaryocytes.

Abnormal chromatin clumping in leucocytes: a clue to a new subtype of myelodysplastic syndrome.

We report 6 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, all of whom showed a bizarre nuclear anomaly within the neutrophils that was characterized by extensive clumping of chromatin into large blocks separated by clear zones, generally associated with a lack of segmentation. Anaemia, thrombocytopenia, variable leucocyte counts with leucoerythroblastic picture, marrow hypercellularity with granulocytic hyperplasia and moderate dysplastic changes in erythroblastic and megakaryocytic lines were present at diagnosis. 2 patients had normal karyotypes and a 3 showed a deletion of chromosome 14.

Two regression models and a scoring system for predicting survival and planning treatment in myelodysplastic syndromes: a multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in 370 patients.

Therapy planning in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) is complicated by its high prognostic heterogeneity. Forty-one patient and disease characteristics at onset of 370 patients with MDS were analyzed to identify significant prognostic factors for survival and transformation to acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), and to develop and validate a regression model for predicting survival. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the total bone marrow percentage of blast cells, age, platelet count, WBC count, and hemoglobin level were the characteristics more significantly associated with survival in the overall series.

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia--clinicobiological characteristics: a multivariate analysis in a series of 70 cases.

In a series of 70 patients diagnosed according to the FAB criteria, 42 clinical and biological disease characteristics were analyzed in order to identify significant prognostic factors by means of univariate and multivariate analysis. The univariate analysis identified ten parameters associated with poor prognosis: Symptoms of anemia, WBC over 10 x 10(9)/l, presence of blast cells, myeloid precursors or erythroblasts in peripheral blood (PB), high bone marrow (BM) cellularity, severe dysthrombopoiesis, percent of blast cells in BM and high serum levels of bilirubin and LDH. The Cox proportional hazards regression method revealed that the combination of high leukocyte counts and BM percentage of blast cells had the strongest predictive relation to survival length (p = 0.

[Prediction of survival in myelodysplastic syndrome. Analysis of 2 scoring systems with prognostic value].

The wide prognostic variability of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) complicates decision-making regarding the choice and evaluation of alternative treatments to transfusional and antiinfectious supportive measures. Due to its simplicity the Bournemouth scoring system seems to have achieved wide acceptance for establishing the prognosis in MDS patients. The aims of this study were to examine the Bournemouth system in a series of 370 patients with MDS and to evaluate the capability of the prognostic index recently proposed by our group to better define the outcome predicted by the former.

Myelodysplastic syndromes: a study of 101 cases according to the FAB classification.

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of closely related disorders characterized by chronic cytopenias with cellular marrow, poor prognosis and refractoriness to treatment. We studied 101 consecutive cases of MDS diagnosed over a 7-year period. Peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) samples were reviewed and classified according to the proposals of the French-American-British (FAB) cooperative group for MDS.