Myelodysplastic syndromes--coping with ineffective hematopoiesis.

One of the most challenging problems in hematology is the heterogeneous group of disorders that were formally defined as myelodysplastic syndromes by the French–American–British Cooperative Group in 1982. A risk-adapted treatment strategy is mandatory for disorders that range from indolent conditions lasting years to forms approaching acute myeloid leukemia. Several treatments for myelodysplastic syndromes have been proposed in the past few decades, but only a few have met evidence-based criteria of efficacy.