The prevalence of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is increasing owing to an ageing population and increased awareness of these diseases. MDS represent many different conditions, not just a single disease, that are grouped together by several clinical characteristics. A striking feature of MDS is genetic instability, and a large proportion of cases result in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We Review three emerging principles of MDS biology: stem-cell dysfunction and the overlap with AML, genetic instability and the deregulation of apoptosis, in the context of inherited bone marrow-failure syndromes, and treatment-related MDS and AML

Author affiliations

1.        Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

2.        Division of Pediatrics, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

3.        Division of Hematology and Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital and the Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

4.        Division of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

5.        Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

6.        Division of Genomics and Proteomics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.