For myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), bone marrow fibrosis (BMF) is an independent prognostic factor for MDS, according to a study published in Leukemia & Lymphoma. Furthermore, adding BMF into the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) enhances its predictive value. Researchers retrospectively analyzed clinical and genetic data from 438 patients with MDS. Patients were randomly divided into validation (n=132) and training (n=306) cohorts. Independent significant prognostic factors consisted of age, BMF, IPSS-R, TP53 gene, and U2AF1 mutation. The study team developed a simplified prognostic system using weighted coefficients, creating four risk categories: low, intermediate, high, and very high. Compared with the IPSS-R, the new model yielded more clearly delineated survival curves. Additionally, the new model attained higher C-indexes (0.61 in the training cohort and 0.63 in the validation cohort) compared with the IPSS-RM model (0.59 and 0.58) and IPSS-R (0.57 and 0.56).
