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Risk factors for de novo and therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

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Abstract

Purpose

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are classified as de novo and therapy-related (tMDS). We evaluated associations between MDS risk factors separately for de novo and tMDS.

Methods

The study population included 346 de novo MDS cases, 37 tMDS cases and 682 population controls frequency matched by age and sex. Polytomous logistic regression was performed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

After adjustment, former smoking status (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.10–1.93), personal history of autoimmune disease (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.99–1.82) and exposure to benzene (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.00–2.19) were associated with de novo MDS. Risk estimates for the associations between smoking, autoimmune disease, and benzene exposure were similar in magnitude but non-significant in tMDS cases. Among individuals with a previous diagnosis of cancer, de novo MDS cases and controls were more likely to have had a previous solid tumor, while tMDS cases more commonly had a previous hematologic malignancy.

Conclusions

We observed similar associations between smoking, history of autoimmune disease and benzene exposure in de novo and tMDS although estimates for tMDS were imprecise due to small sample sizes. Future analyses with larger sample sizes will be required to confirm whether environmental factors influence risk of tMDS.

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Data availability

Data are available by request from the investigators.

Code availability

Analysis code is available by request.

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Funding

The study was funded by a National Institutes of Health grant (R01 CA142714 to J.N.P.)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Rina Yarosh

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Michelle A. Roesler & Jenny N. Poynter

  3. Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Thomas Murray

  4. VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Adina Cioc

  5. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Betsy Hirsch

  6. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Phuong Nguyen

  7. Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Erica Warlick

  8. Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Erica Warlick & Jenny N. Poynter

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  1. Rina Yarosh
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  2. Michelle A. Roesler
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  3. Thomas Murray
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  6. Phuong Nguyen
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  7. Erica Warlick
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  8. Jenny N. Poynter
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Contributions

RY and JNP came up with the study concept; RY, JNP and TM contributed to statistical analysis; MAR was responsible for data collection; AC, BH, PLN, and EW conducted clinical review; RY and JNP wrote the manuscript; all authors reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jenny N. Poynter.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethics approval

The Institutional Review Boards for each participating institution approved this study, which included the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic, the Minnesota Department of Health, and area hospitals.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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All authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Yarosh, R., Roesler, M.A., Murray, T. et al. Risk factors for de novo and therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Cancer Causes Control 32, 241–250 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-020-01378-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-020-01378-x

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