Who can get MDS and how is it diagnosed?
MDS occurs at an increasing frequency in older people, but it can occur in children too. The average age of diagnosis is 70 years old. MDS is diagnosed in more than 10,000 people in the U.S. each year. In less than a third of patients, MDS progresses over time to become acute leukemia. Diagnosis will be confirmed by first getting a Complete Blood Count (CBC:A group of tests performed on a small amount of blood that provides information about the quantity and quality of each type of blood cell) followed by a bone marrow biopsy (A medical procedure in which a small piece of bone with intact bone marrow is removed for study; usually taken from the posterior Ileac aka the pelvis or hip bone region).
