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  • Letter to the Editor
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Reply to Herens et al.

Leukemia volume 20, pages 522–523 (2006)Cite this article

Myelodysplastic syndromes are characterized by leukemic progression in about a third of cases and the progression is a major cause of death. Evolution constitutes a major problem and the outcome is highly variable, especially in the low- and intermediate-risk categories, even though established with the refined International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), capable of a better predictivity with respect to the French–American–British (FAB) classification. In these cases, mostly normal or low-risk karyotypic changes are found.1 The high-risk group often shows progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), being unresponsive to chemotherapy and AML is the cause of death, even though a number of patients do not progress to AML or are highly responsive to the treatment. The karyotype, carried out by GTG banding at diagnosis, could be normal, but cryptic rearrangements and deletion could change the risk status in some of the patients.2

The analysis we previously reported3 is based on a small number of patients (nine), with normal GTG banding karyotype and, as characterized by different meaning, that is FAB or IPSS, belonging to high-risk group. The patients’ age was ranging from 58 to 77 years, and for different reasons, they were supplied only with supportive treatment. Four patients showed the monoallelic deletion of inositide-specific phospholipase C β1 (PI-PLCβ1), whereas five did not. The latter patients at the time of the publication of the report were still alive, ranging the survival after diagnosis from 30 to 32 months. The four patients affected by the deletion died within 1–6 months after diagnosis from AML evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology of Natural Substances and General Physiology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    V R Lo Vasco

  2. Department of Anatomical Sciences, Cellular Signalling Laboratory, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    M Y Follo & L Cocco

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  1. V R Lo Vasco
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  2. M Y Follo
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  3. L Cocco
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Correspondence to L Cocco.

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Lo Vasco, V., Follo, M. & Cocco, L. Reply to Herens et al.. Leukemia 20, 522–523 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404107

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