Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)

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Prognosis & Staging

Marrow findings, chromosome analysis and blood cell counts are considered in another classification system, called the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), which has been helpful in determining a patient’s prognosis (that is, how fast we expect the disease to progress). The IPSS score considers three factors:

  1. Your percentage of bone marrow blasts (categorized as under 5 percent, 5 to 9 percent, 10 to 19 [percent, or more than 20 percent)
  2. Which, if any, chromosome abnormalities are present in your marrow cells (categorized as good, intermediate, or poor)
  3. How many types of cytopenia (low blood cell counts) you have (from 0 if you have none to 3 if you have low RBCs, low WBCs, and low platelets).
    Your score tells your doctor which risk group you are in: low risk, intermediate risk level 1 (abbreviated Int-1), intermediate risk level 2 (Int-2), or high risk. This is basically the staging system for MDS. Keep in mind that risk groups provide only estimates for groups of patients; they cannot predict the precise outlook for you as an individual patient.