Durable Hematological and Major Cytogenetic Response in a Patient with Isolated 20q Deletion Myelodysplastic Syndrome Treated with Lenalidomide

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a clonal bone marrow disorder characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis. It is characterized by peripheral blood cytopenia and significant risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia result. Deletion of the long arm of chromosome 20 (20q deletion) is present in 3–7% of patients with MDS. Lenalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent with antiangiogenic activity. It is FDA approved for the treatment of anemia in patients with low or int-1 risk MDS with chromosome 5q deletion with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. Study of lenalidomide in patients with MDS without 5q deletion but other karyotypic abnormalities demonstrated meaningful activity in transfusion dependent patients; however, response of patients with isolated 20q deletion to lenalidomide is not known. We are reporting a patient with 20q deletion MDS treated with lenalidomide after he failed to respond to azacytidine; to our knowledge this is the first report of a patient with isolated 20q deletion treated with lenalidomide.