Speaking from the 2018 Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) Annual Meeting in Houston, TX, Valeria Santini, MD, of the University of Florence, Florence, Italy, discusses a new concept in the pathophysiology of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS): that inflammation can be an effective indicator for MDS and its progression. She explains how cytokine S100A9, involved in inflammatory processes, triggers paraptosis and ineffective erythropoiesis, and can be used as a marker for MDS diagnosis and progression. Dr Santini speaks about detection methods for this process, highlighting confocal microscopy of the bone marrow and flow cytometry to measure S100A9 directly, and finally suggests that the identification of this mechanism could allow it to be targeted with new therapies.
