Mediterranean Journal Od Hematology and Infectious Diseases
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Crossref Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases Review article Diagnostic Utility of Flow Cytometry in Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Matteo G. Della Porta1 and Cristina Picone2 1 Cancer Center, Humanitas Research Hospital & Humanitas University, Rozzano – Milan, Italy. 2 Department of Hematology Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia Italy. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Abstract. The pathological hallmark of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is marrow dysplasia, which represents the basis of the WHO classification of these disorders. This classification provides clinicians with a useful tool for defining the different subtypes of MDS and individual prognosis. The WHO proposal has raised some concern regarding minimal diagnostic criteria particularly in patients with normal karyotype without robust morphological markers of dysplasia (such as ring sideroblasts or excess of blasts). Therefore, there is clearly need to refine the accuracy to detect marrow dysplasia. Flow cytometry (FCM) immunophenotyping has been proposed as a tool to improve the evaluation of marrow dysplasia. The rationale for the application of FCM in the diagnostic work up of MDS is that immunophenotyping is an accurate method for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of hematopoietic cells and that MDS have been found to have abnormal expression of several cellular antigens. To become applicable in clinical practice, FCM analysis should be based on parameters with sufficient specificity and sensitivity, data should be reproducible between different operators, and the results should be easily understood by clinicians. In this review, we discuss the most relevant progresses in detection of marrow dysplasia by FCM in MDS Keywords: Myelodysplastic Syndrome; Flow Cytometry; Diagnostic Tools. Citation: Della Porta M.G., Picone C. Diagnostic utility of flow cytometry in myelodysplastic syndromes.. Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis 2017, 9(1): e2017017, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4084/MJHID.2017.017 Published: 15 February, 2017 Received: November 14, 2016 Accepted: January 20, 2017 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Correspondence to: Prof. Matteo Giovanni Della Porta, MD, Cancer Center, Humanitas Research Hospital & Humanitas University, via Manzoni, 56 Rozzano – Milan, Italy. Tel: +39 0282247668, Fax: +39 0282244590. E-mail: [email protected] The Diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Syndromes. 100,000 persons over the age of 70 years.1 The Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of clinical course of the disease is very disorders clinically characterized by peripheral heterogeneous, ranging from indolent conditions cytopenia, followed by a progressive impairment spanning years to forms rapidly progressing to in the ability of myelodysplastic stem cells to leukemia.2 This heterogeneity reflects the differentiate and an increasing risk of evolution complexity of the underlying genetic defects.3 into acute leukemia.1 According to the prevailing dogma, clonal MDS represent one of the most common transformation in MDS would occur at the level of hematologic malignancies in Western countries. a committed myeloid stem cell that can give rise to They typically occur in elderly people with a red cells, platelets, granulocytes and monocytes.4 median age at diagnosis of 70 to 75 years in most The biologic hallmark of these stem cells is, series, and their annual incidence exceeds 20 per rather, dysplasia, which indicates a defective www.mjhid.org Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis 2017; 9; e2017017 Pag. 1 / 9 capacity for self-renewal and differentiation and based entirely and exclusively on morphological relies on various morphological abnormalities. evaluation.8 Karyotypic aberrancies (involving loss of genetic The WHO proposal has raised some concern material and less frequently balanced regarding minimal diagnostic criteria for translocations) are detected in about 50% of formulating the diagnosis of MDS.9 Morphology primary MDS, and when present are a marker of may be difficult to evaluate, because cellular clonal hematopoiesis.5 abnormalities of bone marrow cells are not Important steps have recently been made in specific for MDS and may be found in other characterizing the molecular basis of MDS.3 MDS pathological conditions.10,11 As a consequence, in del(5q) appears to derive from haplo-insufficiency clinical practice inter-observer reproducibility for of genes mapping to chromosome 5q32- q33, in recognition of dysplasia is usually poor, particular from reduced expression of RPS14 and particularly in patients who do not have robust miR-145/-146a, and from mutations of Casein morphological markers such as ring sideroblasts or Kinase 1A1 and TP53 genes.6 In addition, excess of blasts.11 Moreover, poor technical acquired somatic mutations have been detected in quality of the specimen is a common obstacle in several genes, including TET2, ASXL1, CBL, the accurate morphological diagnosis of MDS and ETV6, EZH2, IDH1, IDH2, KRAS, NPM1, also has an influence on the diagnostic yield of NRAS, RUNX1, and TP53.4 More recently, genes conventional cytogenetics. Finally, morphology encoding for spliceosome components were may be difficult to evaluate in some patients either identified in a high proportion of patients with due to hypocellularity or fibrosis of the marrow.12 MDS. These genes include SF3B1, SRSF2, U2AF35 and ZRSR2, and to a lesser extent, Rationale for the Application of Flow SF3A1, SF1, U2AF65 and PRPF40B.7 Cytometry in the Diagnostic Work-Up of Although most of the mutated genes in MDS Patients with Suspected MDS. Flow cytometry can be detected in different myeloid neoplasms (FCM) immunophenotyping was introduced by and are not specific for MDS, they may be of WHO proposal for the classification of value to provide evidence for a clonal disorder in hematologic neoplasms as an indispensable tool patients with suspected MDS. In a recent for the diagnosis, classification, staging, and comprehensive report,7 a total of 52% of patients monitoring of several diseases, such as with normal cytogenetics had at least one point lymphoproliferative disorders and acute mutation. These figures are even higher when leukemias.13 In addition, immunophenotyping has accounting for mutations of the genes encoding for been proposed in last years as a tool to improve splicing factors. Although the spread of massive the evaluation of marrow dysplasia. Rationale for genotyping methods will soon make possible for the application of FCM in the diagnostic work up clinicians to detect a broad range of in peripheral of MDS is that: i) immunophenotyping is an blood at a reasonable cost, the screening of such accurate method for quantitative and qualitative molecular defects cannot be recommended at this evaluation of hematopoietic cells (in this context it stage on a routine basis.7 should be underlined that however, the To date, the morphological evaluation of morphologic definition of bone marrow cells is not marrow dysplasia represents the basis of the equal to and cannot be used in an exchangeable World Health Organization (WHO) classification manner with flow cytometric nomenclature) and, of these disorders.8 This classification provides ii) MDS have been found to have abnormal clinicians with a very useful tool for defining the expression of several cellular antigens.13-15 Flow different subtypes of MDS and determining cytometry immunophenotyping is able to identify individual prognosis. The combination of overt specific aberrations in both the immature and marrow dysplasia and clonal cytogenetic mature compartments among different bone abnormalities allows a conclusive diagnosis of marrow hematopoietic cell lineages.16-20 Although MDS. However, this combination is found only in no single immunophenotypic parameter has been some patients, who tend to be those with more proven to be diagnostic of MDS, combinations of advanced disease. In many instances, cytogenetics such parameters into scoring systems have been is not informative so that the diagnosis of MDS is shown to discriminate MDSs from other www.mjhid.org Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis 2017; 9; e2017017 Pag. 2 / 9 cytopenias with high sensitivity and acceptable maturation.11 These abnormalities significantly specificity. affected the detection of physical parameters (i.e., Flow cytometry was proven to be highly side scatter, SSC and forward scatter, FSC) by sensitive in identifying patients likely to be FCM.23 Defective capacity for self-renewal and suffering from a clonal disease process (ie, an differentiation by myelodysplastic stem cells also MDS lacking specific diagnostic markers such as relies on various abnormalities of antigen excess blasts, ring sideroblasts or karyotypic expression on granulocytic cells, which may be aberrations) rather than cytopenia of undetermined easily detected by FCM due to a large availability significance, which includes cases of sustained of specific antibodies for myeloid lineage.16-19 cytopenias in one or more lineages that do not Reported aberrancies of granulocytic lineage meet the minimal criteria for MDS and cannot be include the presence of antigens that are not explained by any