EPIDEMIOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROME IN A WELL-DEFINED FRENCH POPULATION

Data on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are seldom collected by cancer registries and unbiased findings from population-based studies remain rare. We report detailed information on MDS in a well-defined French population in the period 1950-1990. The crude incidence rare was 3.2 p er 100 000 per year and no significant change in incidence was noted i n the study period. The sex ratio was 1.9 and the male predominance wa s present in ail age groups. We observed a rise in incidence after 60 years of age but no significant change in incidence of MDS as a whole was observed over the period studied. Refractory anaemia with excess o f blasts (RAEB) was the most frequent subtype. Overall 5 year transfor mation rate of MDS was 31% (+/-4%) but it was 100% in RAEB in transfor mation. The observed 5 year survival rate was 23% +/- 3% and the corre sponding corrected rate was 33%. The prognosis of RAEB in transformati on was worse than thr prognosis of other subtypes (P<0.01). Discrepanc ies with epidemiological data from other European countries are discus sed.