During the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the MDS Hub was pleased to speak to Theo de Witte, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NL. We asked, Is there confusion between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-M) classifications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)?

De Witte begins by discussing the basis of the current IPSS-M criteria on cytogenetics characteristics, blast percentage, and severity of cytopenia, despite half of patients diagnosed with MDS having normal karyotypes. Moving on, De Witte compares the IPSS-M with the recently updated WHO classification and its focus on diagnosis and morphological features. De Witte emphasizes the importance of identifying specific genetic mutations to determine prognosis more accurately, omitted from the WHO classification.

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There is a need for international guidance in MDS​. The MDS Europe guidelines are accessed all around the world, with high readership in the US, India, and China​. The MDS International Guidelines will meet this global need, providing community-based hematologists, internists, healthcare professionals, and doctors in training with accessible international guidance.​

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During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, the MDS Hub spoke with Jacqueline S. Garcia, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, US, and Amer M. Zeidan, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, US. We asked, How can the hematologic toxicities with Ven+Aza be managed more effectively.

Garcia discusses data from a dose-escalation phase Ib study (NCT02942290), evaluating Ven+Aza for the treatment of treatment-naïve patients with high-risk MDS. Garcia reports the promising efficacy and safety results seen in the trial.

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