The trajectory of prognostication and risk stratification for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Risk stratification and prognostication are crucial for the appropriate management of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes myelodysplastic syndromes: (my-eh-lo-diss-PLASS-tik SIN-dromez) A group of disorders where the bone marrow does not work well, and the bone marrow cells fail to make enough healthy blood cells. Myelo refers to the bone marrow. Dysplastic means abnormal growth or development. People with MDS have low blood cell count for at… (MDSs) or myelodysplastic neoplasms, for whom the expected survival can vary from a few months to >10 years. For the past 5 decades, patients with MDS have been classified into higher-risk vs lower-risk disease phenotypes using sequentially developed clinical prognostic scoring systems. Factors such as morphologic dysplasia, clinical hematologic parameters, cytogenetics cytogenetics: (sie-toe-juh-NEH-tiks) The study of chromosomes (DNA), the part of the cell that contains genetic information. Some cytogenetic abnormalities are linked to different forms of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). , and, more recently, mutational information have been captured in prognostic scoring systems that refine risk stratification and guide therapeutic management in patients with MDS. This review describes the progressive evolution and improvement of these systems which has led to the current Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System International Prognostic Scoring System: A system that turns patient data into a score. The score tells how quickly a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) case is progressing and helps predict what may happen with the patient's MDS in the future. Also called IPSS. .