Classification of the myelodysplastic syndrome in a national registry of recently diagnosed patients.
BACKGROUND
It is not known to what extent the WHO classification scheme for MDS has been adopted in clinical practice.


METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 200 newly diagnosed MDS patients enrolled in our national registry during the years 2006-2008 to determine the scheme used.


RESULTS
Clear WHO subtypes were recorded for 45.0% of patients, compared to 5.5% for FAB subtypes; 28.0% had MDS documented but without WHO or FAB subtype, and for 22.5%, the schema was unclear.


CONCLUSIONS
Although many MDS patients do not have a subtype or schema documented, when they do, the WHO system is widely used.
Center for Outcomes and Policy Research, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. gregory_abel@dfci.harvard.edu
Gregory A
GA
Abel
Carla M
CM
Van Bennekom
Richard M
RM
Stone
Theresa E
TE
Anderson
David W
DW
Kaufman
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006405:Hematology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010338:Pathology, Clinical; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014944:World Health Organization