Myelodysplastic syndromes (refractory anemia). A perspective of the biologic, clinical, and therapeutic issues

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a diverse group of hematologic disorders that have an abnormality in differentiation of the hematopoietic stem cell resulting in varying degrees of peripheral blood cytopenias. The author reviews the hematologic and clinical aspects of MDS, summarizes the recent pertinent aspects of the advances in our understanding of the disease, and explores the current approaches in the new treatment programs.