The Predictive Value of Serum Erythropoietin Levels Measured at Diagnosis in Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Objectives: To study the predictive and prognostic values of serum erythropoietin levels (sEPO) measured at diagnosis in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Methods: We analyzed clinical associations and prognosis with sEPO in 672/1610 patients with at least one year of follow-up data in the prospective EUMDS study. Results: sEPO levels increase with WHO subtypes associated with erythroid hypoplasia and poorer risk IPSS-R scores. sEPO is an independent predictor of transfusion free survival and levels < 200 IU/L predict response to ESA. sEPO is not an independent predictor of overall survival. Conclusions: sEPO predicts transfusion free survival and response to ESA. Trial Registration: The EUMDS Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov: Identifier NCT00600860).