Clinical and cytogenetic characteristics of myelodysplastic syndrome in patients with HIV infection

We report eight patients of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with HIV infection. Compared to a historical cohort of HIV-uninfected MDS patients, HIV/MDS were younger (p = 0.019), had more complex cytogenetics (p = 0.015), and more often had 7q deletion or monosomy 7 (p = 0.011). In five patients, HIV/MDS transformed to acute myeloid leukemia, with a median time to transformation of 7 months. Also, the median overall survival was shorter in the HIV/MDS than in their HIV-uninfected counterparts (8 vs. 22 months; p = 0.003). These results suggest that HIV/MDS is a high-risk MDS necessitating thorough cytogenetic analysis and follow-up.