Treatment of pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia: the Brazilian experience in the past decade.

Background: Therapy strategies for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) vary considerably.

Objective: To review the treatment of Brazilian children who were diagnosed with MDS or JMML in the past decade and reported to the Brazilian Cooperative Group on Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndromes (BCG-MDS-PED).

Results: Of 173 children reported to the BCG-MDS-PED from January 1997 to January 2003 with a suspected diagnosis of MDS or JMML, 91 had the diagnosis confirmed after central review of the bone marrow aspirate and biopsy.