Is there confusion between WHO and IPSS-M classifications of MDS?

During the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the MDS Hub was pleased to speak to Theo de Witte, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NL. We asked, Is there confusion between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-M) classifications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)?

De Witte begins by discussing the basis of the current IPSS-M criteria on cytogenetics characteristics, blast percentage, and severity of cytopenia, despite half of patients diagnosed with MDS having normal karyotypes. Moving on, De Witte compares the IPSS-M with the recently updated WHO classification and its focus on diagnosis and morphological features. De Witte emphasizes the importance of identifying specific genetic mutations to determine prognosis more accurately, omitted from the WHO classification.