Management of older adults with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a varied group of hematologic neoplasms that lead to bone marrow failure, and also carry a risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia. Patients with MDS suffer significant impairments to both their quality of life and survival. Age is the dominant risk factor for the development of MDS, with a median age at diagnosis over 70 years. Consequently, patients with MDS frequently have concurrent comorbidities and/or frailty which may be coincident or related to the disease itself. Disease characteristics, degree of comorbidity, and presence of frailty all impact prognosis. Treatment of MDS focuses on supportive care, with disease-modifying approaches (chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation) reserved for fit patients with high-risk disease. Care of patients with MDS requires understanding the disease in the context of an older population, and tailoring approaches to both disease risk and patient suitability for therapy.