UNDERSTANDING MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) belong to a group of diseases that result from ineffective
blood cell production.4 All blood cells are made in bone marrow. Even
though all blood cells start out from stem cells, they eventually divide and mature
into red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
In patients with MDS, this maturing process is damaged. Some stem cells become ineffective
and do not mature into healthy cells. Instead, the ineffective stem cells produce
defective cells. These cells live longer and outnumber the cells produced by healthy
stem cells. The population of ineffective cells increases, while the population
of healthy cells decreases.
Doctors who specialize in blood-related diseases consider MDS a "clonal" disease,
which means many abnormal cells develop from one abnormal cell. Approximately 30%
of patients with MDS will develop acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a type of cancer
that occurs in the bone marrow cells.
Learn more about Myelodysplastic Syndromes:
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