The myelodysplastic syndromes, MDS., like the leukemias amd myeloproliferative syndrome, are clonal disorders of the bone marrow, characterized by progressive refractory cytopenia with cellular dysfunction and defective myeloid maturation involving at least two and generally three hematopoietic cell lines.
Clonal chromosomal abnormalities similar to those seen in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia are found in 50% of cases, supporting the view that MDS, like acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, is a clonal malignancy of hematopoietic stem cells.
While 10% to 40% of patient with MDS might eventually develop acute leukemia, approximately 20% to 40% will die from infection and/or bleeding.
Supportive therapy with transfusion of RBCs and platelets has been the mainstay of therapy, while treatment with cytotoxic or differentiation-inducing agents, eg, low-dose
cytosine-arabinoside, vit D3, retinoic acid, or interferon- alpha and gamma, has been only partly successful.
α-interferon would seem to offer therapeutic potential for a number of reasons.
First, αINF is known to suppress both normal and CGL myeloid proliferation and to induce differentiation of certain myeloid cell line - both effects are of potential benefit in MDS.
Second, MDS, like hairy - cell leukemia, may occasionally improve after infection raising the possibility that a cytokine- mediated mechanism is involved. Finally, several
studies have demonstrated defective NK function in MDS : α IFN is known to be a potent stimulator of NK function and might thereby modify disease activity. We experienced a case of myelodysplastic syndrome in a 32-year-old male patient who was treated successfully with interferon-α2a and report this case with a review of the literatures.

Keywords: Myelodysplastic syndrome, α-interferon,