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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffMyelodysplastic syndromes are a group of disorders caused by poorly formed or dysfunctional blood cells. Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when something goes wrong in your bone marrow — the spongy material inside your bones where blood cells are made.
There is no cure for myelodysplastic syndromes. Treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes usually focuses on reducing or preventing complications of the disease and of treatments. In certain cases, myelodysplastic syndromes are treated with a bone marrow transplant, which may help prolong life.
- Nguyen PL. The myelodysplastic syndromes. Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America. 2009;23:675.
- Myelodysplastic syndromes treatment (PDQ) patient version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/myelodysplastic/patient/allpages/print. Accessed Sept. 2, 2009.
- Vardiman JW, et al. The 2008 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemia: Rationale and important changes. Blood. 2009;114:937.
- Foran JM, et al. Myelodysplastic syndromes. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:2235.
- Stone RM. How I treat patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Blood. 2009;113:6296.
- DeAngelo DJ, et al. Myelodysplastic syndromes: Biology and treatment. In: Hoffman R, et al. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06715-0..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06715-0&uniq=158945000. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
