Bone marrow analysis of the myelodysplastic syndromes: histological and immunohistochemical features related to the evolution of overt leukemia

Bone marrow trephines from 31 patients with an initial diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) were examined and analyzed histologically and immunohistochemically. In those cases terminating in overt leukemia (6/31, 19%), the number of bone marrow mast cells was significantly reduced, compared with those which did not evolve to overt leukemia. The bone marrow lymphoid cells that may participate in immunosurveillance against the proliferation of blast cells were also significantly reduced in cases terminating in overt leukemia. However, S-100 protein-positive cells, which include histiocytes and suppressor T-cells, were increased in cases terminating in overt leukemia. The results indicated that examination of the bone marrow to determine the proportions of mast cells and lymphoid cells which may be involved in host defense systems may be useful in predicting the evolution to overt leukemia in MDS. In the present series, patients with a hypocellular marrow (5/31, 16%) did not progress to overt leukemia and had a significantly lower bone marrow reticulin content, a significantly lower megakaryocyte count, a relatively higher mast cell count and a significantly higher lymphoid cell count than those with a normocellular or hypercellular marrow. These findings may reflect the initial features of MDS or, possibly, that hypocellular MDS is an independent entity with a low potential for blastic proliferation.