Haematologica (Oct 2011)

Impact of the degree of anemia on the outcome of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and its integration into the WHO classification-based Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS)

  • Luca Malcovati,
  • Matteo G. Della Porta,
  • Corinna Strupp,
  • Ilaria Ambaglio,
  • Andrea Kuendgen,
  • Kathrin Nachtkamp,
  • Erica Travaglino,
  • Rosangela Invernizzi,
  • Cristiana Pascutto,
  • Mario Lazzarino,
  • Ulrich Germing,
  • Mario Cazzola

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2011.044602
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 96, no. 10

Abstract

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Background Anemia is an established negative prognostic factor in myelodysplastic syndromes but the relationship between its degree and clinical outcome is poorly defined. We, therefore, studied the relationship between severity of anemia and outcome in myelodysplastic syndrome patients.Design and Methods We studied 840 consecutive patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes at the Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy, and 504 patients seen at the Heinrich-Heine-University Hospital, Düsseldorf, Germany. Hemoglobin levels were monitored longitudinally and analyzed by means of time-dependent Cox’s proportional hazards regression models.Results Hemoglobin levels lower than 9 g/dL in males (HR 5.56, P=0.018) and 8 g/dL in females (HR=5.35, P=0.026) were independently related to reduced overall survival, higher risk of non-leukemic death and cardiac death (P