Impact of Iron Overload on MDS

Researchers of a study sought to elucidate iron overload (IOL) influences on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) progression. The results were published in Hematology.

To conduct this study, researchers collated clinical data from 143 MDS patients to assess the impact of IOL on patient survival and progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

The results showed that median survival time, three-year survival rate, and leukemia-free survival (LFS) time were notably shorter in patients with IOL than those without IOL (all P<0.05). Moreover, the study found that IOL was more likely to be found in subgroups of patients with higher-risk MDS, which also promoted 2-year AML transformation. Furthermore, the researchers noted that serum ferritin was significantly correlated with the overall survival of MDS patients (P<0.05).

The concentrations of both intracellular iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in CD34+ cells of bone marrow were higher in the IOL group than the non-IOL group, respectively (P<0.05). Moreover, ROS level was closely correlated with the percentage of bone marrow blasts (P = 0.04). Collectively, IOL threatened the survival of MDS patients and promoted AML transformation.

“Elevated intracellular iron and ROS in CD34+ cells of bone marrow could accelerate the abnormal proliferation of blasts,” the researchers concluded.