ABSTRACT
Recent clinical observations and laboratory studies suggest that the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) belong to a group of related diseases (Fig. 1) in which the pathophysiology of bone marrow failure is mediated, at least in part, by the immune system. In this chapter, we will review the relationship between MDS and aplastic anemia, the data supporting a role for lymphocytes and cytokines in suppression of hematopoiesis, and the results of therapeutic trials employing immunosuppression to treat pancytopenia in MDS (for helpful reviews and other approaches to this subject, see Refs. 1-4).
