The Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) Is Not Predictive Of Survival In Patients With Secondary Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
Authors: Nazha Aziz , Mukherjee Sudipto , Tiu Ramon V. , Saunthararajah Yogen , Keng Michael K. , Seastone David J. , Hobson Sean , Advani Anjali S. , Maciejewski Jaroslaw P. , Sekeres Mikkael A. 
Published: October 2019

Background

The International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) has been the most widely used risk assessment tool to predict clinical outcome in MDS. Recently, the revised IPSS (IPSS-R) was introduced to allow a greater discriminating capacity in assessing cytogenetic abnormalities and cytopenias and further refines prognostication. However, like the IPSS, the IPSS-R was developed in pts with primary MDS and its utility in pts with secondary (s)MDS is unclear.

Material and Methods

We conducted an IRB-approved analysis of 765 pts diagnosed with MDS (per 2008 WHO criteria) and evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic between 9/1998 and 1/2013. IPSS-R was calculated as described previously (Greenberg et al, Blood 2012). Cytogenetic risk subgroups were per IPSS-R. Overall survival (OS) was measured from the time of diagnosis to time of death or last follow up. Time-to-event analyses were performed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and curves were compared with the 2-tailed log rank test. Differences among variables were evaluated by the chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test for categorical and continuous variables, respectively.

Results

We identified 56 pts (7%) with sMDS: 14 (25%) pts had prior antecedent hematologic disorder, 32 (57%) had prior radiation therapy, and 10 (18%) received prior chemotherapies. Eleven pts (20%) were untreated and 45 pts (80%) received treatment: 17 (30%) with single agent 5-azacitidine, 12 (21%) with supportive measures, 9 (16%) with hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), and 7 (11%) with other therapies. For all pts, the median age was 66 years (range, 24-81). Median white blood cell count at diagnosis was 3.8 k/mL (range, 0.9-179.7), median absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was 2.2 k/mL (range, 0.1-145.6), median hemoglobin was 9.6 g/dL (range, 0.4-14), median platelet count was 65 X 103/mL (range, 4-460), and median bone marrow blasts was 5% (range, 0-26). The distribution of cytogenetic categories based on IPSS-R criteria was similar in pts with sMDS [2 (4%) very good, 28 (50%) good, 8 (14%) intermediate, 10 (18%) poor and 8 (14%) very poor] compared to primary MDS [28 (4%) very good, 351 (50%) good, 109 (15%) intermediate, 84 (12%) poor and 137 (19%) very poor]. IPSS-R risk categories in pts with sMDS [3 (5%) very low, 15 (27%) low, 11 (20%) intermediate, 15 (27%) high, and 12 (21%) very high] compared to primary MDS [75 (11%) very low (P = 0.15), 221 (31%) low (P = 0.3), 162 (23%) intermediate (P = 0.3), 145 (20%) high (P = 0.1), and 106 (15%) very high (P = 0.1)] were also similar. With a median follow up of 18.4 months (m, range, 1.8-104.6), the median OS for sMDS pts was not reached for very low risk pts, 31.6 m for low risk, 13.7 m for intermediate risk, 27.3 m for poor risk and 39 m for very poor risk (P = 0.15, Figure 1).

Conclusion

Although pts with sMDS had similar cytogenetic and IPSS-R risk categories compared to those with primary MDS, the IPSS-R did not predict for OS in sMDS pts. The lack of predictability of IPSS-R could be because that most of our pts with sMDS received therapy including HSCT. A new prognostic module to predict the outcome of pts with sMDS who are receiving treatment is needed.

Disclosures:

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.