Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) State of the Art Updates and Next Questions: Myelodysplastic Syndromes

In the past few months, 2 main streams of research have dominated the panorama of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) investigations: deepening the insight into the pathogenic role, hierarchy, and prognostic effect of somatic mutations and, as a consequence, into the effect of inherited congenital predisposing conditions and the second, quite interlinked with the first, analyzing inflammation and innate immunity in patients with MDS. The research devoted to clarifying the mechanisms of action and mechanisms of resistance to hypomethylating agents has also advanced, mostly resulting from different approaches to the study of DNA methylation. Recent observations have reinforced support for targeted therapies for selected subgroups of MDS patients.