Autoimmune Cytopenias

In introducing their clinical study, authors from multiple centers across France note that in up to 20% of cases, MDS and CMML are associated with systemic inflammatory or autoimmune diseases, including immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), but large studies assessing the association are lacking. Therefore, they analyzed the clinical spectrum, outcome and therapeutic management of patients with ITP associated with MDS or CMML, comparing these in patients with primary ITP without MDS/CMML and in patients with MDS/CMML without ITP. An accompanying commentary notes that this “intriguing” study “opens new perspectives for a deeper understanding of the pathobiological mechanisms linking ITP and some clonal myeloid/lymphoid disorders and of their temporal association.”