Current status of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for MDS

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) offers potentially curative therapy for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, as most patients with MDS are in the 7th or 8th decade of life, only few of these were transplanted in the past, using high-dose conditioning regimens. The development of reduced-intensity conditioning has allowed to offer HCT also to older patients and those with clinically relevant comorbid conditions. Dependent upon disease status and the type of clonal chromosomal abnormalities present at the time of HCT, some 25%-75% of patients will be cured of their disease and survive long-term. Recent results with HLA matched unrelated donors are comparable to those with HLA genotypically identical siblings. The increasing use of cord blood and HLA haploidentical donors is expected to make HCT available to a growing number of patients. However, post-transplant relapse and graft-versus-host disease remain problems requiring further investigation.