The National Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Study

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are the most common cause of adult bone marrow failure in the US and occur predominantly in people over the age of 60. Much of the morbidity and mortality for MDS is due to complications from low blood counts (e.g., infections and bleeding). MDS is caused by acquired DNA mutations that occur in a patient's blood cells as they grow older. Accumulating evidence suggests that MDS patients may traverse through a series of antecedent hematopoietic conditions defined by, i) clonal hematopoiesis (i.e., detectable somatic mutations in a person's blood cells) without low blood counts, a condition that affects up to 10% of individuals 70 years old and is termed Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP), or ii) clonal hematopoiesis with low blood counts (i.e., cytopenias) but no evidence of bone marrow dysplasia, termed Clonal Cytopenia of Undetermined Significance (CCUS). Nearly all CCUS patients will develop MDS over a ten year period, highlighting the prognostic importance of this disease. A better understanding of the genetic mutations, including non-coding and structural variants (SVs), occurring in CCUS and MDS could provide valuable insight into the natural history of MDS development. The NHLBI is conducting a longitudinal, observational study to create a standardized clinical dataset linked to a prospectively collected, consistently processed, and well-characterized biospecimen repository derived from approximately 1750 participants with suspected or newly diagnosed MDS or MDS/myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) overlap. These volunteers will donate biological specimens (like bone marrow and blood) and medical information, including details of their symptoms, how they perceive their quality of life, the treatments they receive, and what their doctor says about the severity of their illness over time. This information will be collected at pre-determined time points for the duration of the study. Study participants may be followed for life.]]>