title: Comorbidity as prognostic variable in MDS: comparative evaluation of the HCT-CI and CCI in a core dataset of 419 patients of the Austrian MDS Study Group.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The evaluation of comorbidity is of increasing importance in patients with hematologic disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present study, the influence of comorbidity on survival and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) evolution was analyzed retrospectively in 419 patients with de novo myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (observation period: 1985-2007). The median age was 71 years (range 24-91 years). Two different scoring systems, the hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation-specific comorbidity index (HCT-CI) and the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) were applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HCT-CI was found to be a significant prognostic factor for overall survival (OS, P < 0.05) as well as event-free survival (EFS, P < 0.05) in our patients, whereas the CCI was of prognostic significance for OS (P < 0.05), but not for EFS. For AML-free survival, neither the HCT-CI nor the CCI were of predictive value. A multivariate analysis including age, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, karyotype, number of cytopenias, French-American-British groups, and comorbidity was applied. Comorbidity was found to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with low- or int-1-risk MDS (P < 0.05) regarding OS and EFS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Together, our data show that comorbidity is an important risk factor for OS and EFS in patients with MDS.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. wolfgang.r.sperr@meduniwien.ac.at
authors: W R
authors: WR
authors: Sperr
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Wimazal
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kundi
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Baumgartner
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Nösslinger
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Makrai
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Stauder
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Krieger
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Pfeilstöcker
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Valent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria; D015897:Comorbidity; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult