title: Myelodysplastic syndromes: the complexity of stem-cell diseases.
abstract: The prevalence of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is increasing owing to an ageing population and increased awareness of these diseases. MDS represent many different conditions, not just a single disease, that are grouped together by several clinical characteristics. A striking feature of MDS is genetic instability, and a large proportion of cases result in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We Review three emerging principles of MDS biology: stem-cell dysfunction and the overlap with AML, genetic instability and the deregulation of apoptosis, in the context of inherited bone marrow-failure syndromes, and treatment-related MDS and AML.
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. sjcorey@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Seth J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Minden
authors.forename: Dwayne L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Hagop
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kantarjian
authors.forename: Jean C Y
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Aaron D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Schimmer
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D017209:Apoptosis; D006801:Humans; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents