Adverse impact of hyperferritinemia and transfusion dependency on treatment success in myelodysplastic syndrome

BackgroundMyelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is characterized by peripheral cytopenias and dysplasia in one or more cell lines in the bone marrow. A significant proportion of patients require blood product support due to symptomatic anemia and/or thrombocytopenia during the course of their disease. This retrospective study was planned to evaluate the transfusion requirement of MDS patients and the role of ferritin in predicting transfusion requirement and response to treatment.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the records of 35 MDS patients [median age: 66 (22–84); male/female: 21/14]. The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria was used for disease classification and International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) for risk stratification.ResultsA total of 22 patients (62.8%) required transfusions during follow-up. While all the 22 patients received packed red blood cells (PRBCs), only 8 patients (22.9%) required platelet transfusion(s). Although no significant relationship was demonstrated between transfusion dependency and disease progression, patients who responded to disease-specific treatment were exposed to less PRBC transfusions compared to non-responders (p = 0.04). Treatment response was found to be better in patients who had lower serum ferritin levels at diagnosis (p = 0.004). A total of 11 patients were followed for a minimum of 24 months. Transfusion load was not different among these patients with respect to disease subtype, IPSS risk score and treatment protocol in the first and second 12-month interval. Median overall survival of the cohort was 26.3 (0.4–160.3) months and median progression free survival was 24.9 (0.4–160.3) months.ConclusionThe present report underlines the association of baseline hyperferritinemia and transfusion dependency with treatment success in MDS. Even in patients treated with new generation agents, the vicious impact of transfusion load seems to be the tender spot of the MDS puzzle. The prognostic impact of baseline hyperferritinemia should be validated with further studies.