Myelodysplastic syndrome is the grouping of a subgroup of neoplasms that have two main characteristics in common:
Blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets) appear with abnormalities in size and shape from their genesis in the bone marrow, and these same cells are found in numbers below normal (pancytopenia) in the bloodstream.
There are three subgroups of diseases classified as myelodysplastic syndromes:
- Chronic deficiencies in the quantity of blood cells, but without a progressive characteristic for leukemia, depending on the severity of the syndrome; Red blood cells with an abnormal amount of iron.
- Chronic deficiency in the quantity of blood cells and with a progressive characteristic for leukemia, determined by the severity of the syndrome.
- There are various levels of severity of myelodysplastic syndrome ranging from mild (mild anemia) to very severe (progression to acute myeloid leukemia). This syndrome can occur in children but is more common in elderly individuals and men.
