Rare Disease Database

Synonyms

• Refractory anemia with excess blasts
• RAEB

Overview

Myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts is a rare type of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).[14769] In this type of MDS, the number of very early forms of blood cells (blasts) are increased in the bone marrow and/or blood. There is also a low numbers of at least one type of blood cell. The early forms of cell types in the bone marrow (red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets) may or may not look abnormal (dysplasia) under the microscope. Signs and symptoms may include a very hard to treat and persistent anemia (refractory anemia), frequent infections (due to low numbers of neutrophils), easy bruising and bleeding (due to low number or abnormal platelets). MDS with excess blasts is one of the MDS most likely to turn into acute myeloid leukemia (AML).[14769][14770] It is classified into 2 types, based on how many of the cells in the bone marrow or blood are blasts:[14769][14770][14772]

• MDS-EB1: blasts make up 5% to 9% of the cells in the bone marrow, or 2% to 4% of the cells in the blood 
• MDS-EB2: blasts make up 10% to 19% of the cells in the bone marrow, or 5% to 19% of the cells in the blood; this type has a higher risk to become AML.

Some cases of MDS are linked to known risk factors (such as smoking, chemotherapy, having a genetic syndrome that increases the chance of developing MDS and other). These factors lead to changes in the DNA in bone marrow cells may cause MDS to develop, but most often, the cause is unknown.[14771] Treatment may include blood transfusions, supportive care, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and bone marrow transplant.[14770][ 14773][14774]

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