Incidence and survival estimates for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome in the early 21st century: no evidence of improvement over time

We examine changes in population level incidence and survival of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in the United States in 2001–2016. Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-18 database. Period analysis was used to calculate one-, two-, and five-year survival. The incidence peaked at 5.6 per 100,000 in 2010 then decreased to 3.9 by 2016, with a decrease in the diagnoses of refractory anemia (RA) and RA with ringed sideroblasts (RARS) and a relative increase in RA with excess blasts (RAEB). Overall, one-, two-, and five-year relative survival decreased over time, going from 74.3%, 60.9%, and 42.3%, respectively, in 2008–2010 to 70.9%, 55.9%, and 37.6%, respectively, in 2014–2016. When survival was examined by histology, patients with RA/RARS and RAEB had similar survival expectations in 2008–2010 versus 2014–2016 and a decrease was observed for 5q-MDS. Our results highlight the need for new treatment options in MDS.