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The National Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Study- Digital Histopathological Slide Images

The goal of the National MDS Study was to establish a publicly available resource to facilitate the study of MDS natural history. This was accomplished through: 1) Creation of a multi-institutional, rich clinical database with genetic sequencing, longitudinal biorepository of consistently processed and clinically well-annotated blood and tissue specimens collected prospectively from participants with MDS and participants with idiopathic cytopenia of undetermined significance (ICUS); and 2) Support for investigator-initiated studies of MDS that will have high-impact for MDS patients, including basic science, clinical, health outcomes and epidemiological research.

The study has assembled a comprehensive worldclass clinical database from over 2,100 participants with suspected or newly diagnosed MDS or MDS/MPN overlap disorders including extensive quality of life assessments, laboratory data, exposure history, histopathology slides and images, targeted and whole genome sequencing data, and hematopoietic and germline tissues representing high-quality biospecimens and data from diverse centers across the United States. These resources are now made available to the scientific community to support investigator-initiated research.

The Digital Histopathological Slide Image data set further enhances the characterization of the MDS study cohort. The image library contains a total of 3,988 digital histopathology slides (H&E and Wright stained) of bone marrow aspirate and biopsy samples as well as peripheral blood smears collected from 1,652 MDS participants at baseline and follow-up visits. Clinical data associated with these images includes basic demographics, the central pathologist's WHO classification, and other slide review comments. Additional characterization of the MDS participants is available for further evaluation. The slide image library provides an extensive and unique resource to the research community offering a platform to evaluate new techniques that could potentially lead to improvements in diagnostic screening procedures and classification of patients with MDS.