title: Patterns of blood product use among patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) require blood product support to manage the severe anaemias, which frequently accompany MDS. Our objective was to show the feasibility of linking the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database with records from Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) to characterize blood product use over time in successive cohorts of patients with MDS.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified patients with MDS in the SEER registry. The cohort was then linked to PSBC records to discern blood product use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Included in the analysis were 783 patients with MDS entered in the SEER database from 2001 to 2007 for whom data were also available in the PSBC database. Among patients with MDS who received transfusions, 97% received packed red blood cells; 52% received platelets. The proportion of patients with MDS receiving blood products declined from 2001 to 2007.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data show a recent decline in blood product use for patients with MDS. Future studies are needed to further evaluate the reasons for this finding, specifically exploring the impact of newer medications on blood product use in patients with MDS.
authors: Research and Economic Assessment in Cancer and Healthcare (REACH) Group, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, USA. sramsey@fhcrc.org
authors: S D
authors: SD
authors: Ramsey
authors: J S
authors: JS
authors: McCune
authors: D K
authors: DK
authors: Blough
authors: C L
authors: CL
authors: McDermott
authors: S J
authors: SJ
authors: Beck
authors: J A
authors: JA
authors: López
authors: H Joachim
authors: HJ
authors: Deeg
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D016208:Databases, Factual; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion; D006801:Humans; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D017713:Platelet Transfusion; D012042:Registries; D018426:SEER Program