Abnormalities in the expression of cytokines and their receptors in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

Abnormalities of the expression of cytokines and their receptors seen in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are reviewed. Autocrine and paracrine secretion of growth factors, most notably GM-CSF and IL-6, has been identified as a factor in clone expansion in young pediatric patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Mutations affecting cFMS, the receptor for M-CSF, have also been demonstrated. The other reported abnormalities have been found in too small a number of cases to explain the cell growth and differentiation disorders seen during the course of MDS. It remains possible, however, that a more detailed study of signal transduction pathways might detect functional abnormalities explaining the contrast between the small number of reported cases with abnormalities at the cytokine and cytokine receptor sites and the cell growth and differentiation disorders that are prominent in MDS.