Key clinical point: Dysregulated erythroferrone (ERFE) expression in CD71 + erythroid progenitors is associated with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) outcome and predicts patient survival independently of International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) stratification.
Major finding: The expression of ERFE was significantly higher in CD71 + cells of MDS patients vs. healthy donors group (median normalized mean fold change, 2.42 vs. 0.78). Elevated expression of ERFE in erythroid progenitors was associated with superior survival (hazard ratio, 0.35; P = .0017) independently of IPSS stratification. For growth/differentiation factor 15, the result was similar, but not statistically significant ( P = .0543).
Study details: The data come from a study of 111 patients with MDS (median age, 73 years; 66.7% males).
Disclosures: This study was supported by funds of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Riabov V et al. Br J Haematol. 2021 Jan 24. doi: 10.1111/bjh.17314 .