Prognosis (MDS)
Children with RC or low grade RAEB may have a long clinical course and remain stable without therapy.
Progression of MDS occurs at differing rates.
Supportive care can be given with blood transfusion and treatment of any infection.
Eventually MDS progresses in virtually all patients.
IPSS = International Prognostic Scoring System for MDS
Uses weighted data to put patients into prognostic categories:
- Bone marrow blast count
- cytopenia
- cytogenetics
Thrombocytopenia and bone marrow blasts of more than 5% associated with poor prognosis.
Very occasionally MDS has been reported to regress spontaneously.
Children with MDS secondary to chemotherapy or radiation have a poor survival rate. HSCT offers a cure rate of about 30% only in these patients.
