Bone marrow fibrosis at diagnosis is associated with TP53 overexpression and adverse prognosis in low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome

Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous group of stem cell clonal alterations, culminating in a high risk of progression to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) (Greenberg et al, 2012). The prognosis of these patients is commonly determined by the International Prognostic Score System (IPSS), which considers the number of cytopenias, cytogenetic alterations and number of blasts in the bone marrow at diagnosis. Patients with a lower risk of progression to AML are classified as low risk; however, a subgroup of these patients develops a disease with an aggressive course and a lower survival rate (Mittelman et al, 2010). This clinical heterogeneity reinforces the need to identify auxiliary markers for prognostic stratification systems.