What Is Myelodysplasia Syndrome?

Myelodysplastic syndrome is a group of disorders in which stem cells in the body do not form or function correctly. This means there aren't enough healthy cells in the body, which can lead to life-threatening complications. According to the Blood Cancer and Leukemia website, between 7,000 and 12,000 new cases of Myelodysplastic syndrome are diagnosed each year in the U.S.

Considerations

• Myelodysplastic syndrome is not cancer, but some forms of the condition can lead to acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer. For this reason, the syndrome is often referred to as pre-leukemia.

Symptoms

• Fatigue and shortness of breath, easy bruising or bleeding, losing weight unintentionally, very pale skin, frequent infections, petechiae (tiny red spots underneath the skin), weakness and fever are symptoms of Myelodysplastic syndrome.

Types

• There are different types of Myelodysplastic syndrome. 5q-syndrome affects the DNA of the body. Hypoplastic MDS acts like anemia in the body. MDS with myleofibrosis causes bone marrow to grow in the spleen and liver. And regular bone marrow is replaced with fibrosis tissue and MDS with prominent eosinophilia causes an excess of certain white blood cells.

Cancer Risks

• Patients are classified by their risk for developing cancer. Intermediate-1 is the lowest risk level. Patients at this level have refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, or refractory anemia with excessive blasts. Patients at higher risk of developing cancer are considered Intermediate-2 and usually have refractory anemia with excessive blasts in transformation or chrome myelomonocytic leukemia.

Causes

• There is no known cause for primary Myelodysplastic syndrome. Some causes for secondary Myelodysplastic syndrome include chemotherapy and environmental toxins.