Excess mortality in the myelodysplastic syndromes

Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are the commonest hematologic malignancies in the elderly. Since many patients with MDS actually die from age-related ailments, the very disease burden of MDS remains largely unknown. This registry-based study was aimed at investigating the excess mortality attributable to MDS. We analyzed 7,408 adult patients diagnosed with primary MDS from 1980 to 2014. Excess mortality was estimated by comparing the patients' survival with that expected in the matched general population. Median age of patients was 74 years, 58% were males, and 65% belonged to the lower risk categories of the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R). Excess mortality accounted for three-fourths of the all-cause mortality and was mainly driven by factors unrelated to leukemic transformation. Excess mortality increased with the IPSS-R risk category [Incidence rate ratio (IRR): 2.1, 95% CI: 1.9–2.3; P