1. The myelodysplastic syndromes : history and classification / David P. Steensma and John M. Bennett -- 2. Epidemiology of MDS / Terry J. Hamblin -- 3. The cytogenetics and molecular biology of myelodysplastic syndromes / Harold J. Olney and Michelle M. Le Beau -- 4. Genomic approaches to MDS / Andrea Pellagatti -- 5. The role of apoptosis in MDS / Yatato Yoshida -- 6. The role of mitochondria in MDS / Norbert Gattermann -- 7. Defects in iron metabolism and iron overload in MDS / Luca Malcovati -- 8. Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome and myeloid leukemia / Lucy A. Godley and Richard A. Larson -- 9. Diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome : criteria and challenges / Attilio Orazi and James W. Vardiman -- 10. Hypocellular myelodysplastic syndrome : relationship to aplastic anemia and hypocellulcar acute myeloid leukemia / Tomoko Hata and Masao Tomonaga -- 11. Diagnostic and prognostic utility of flow cytometry in MDS / Denise A. Wells and Michael R. Loken -- 12. Molecular pathogenesis of the 5q-syndrome / Jacqueline Boultwood and James S. Wainscoat -- 13. Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloProfiliferative overlap syndromes / Phuong L. Nguyen and Curtis A. Hanson -- 14. MDS in children / Henrik Hasle and Charlotte M. Niemeyer -- 15. Prognostic factors in the assessment of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes / Aristoteles Giagounidis, Carlo Aul and Ulrich Germing -- 16. Therapeutic strategies : the approach to care of patients with MDS, and criteria for treatment response / Pierre Fenaux, Lionel Ades and Claude Gardin -- 17. Management of cytopenias in MDS / Luca Malcovati, David T. Bowen and Eva Hellstrom-Lindberg -- 18. Immune dysregulation and the role for immunotherapy in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) / Kebede Hussein and David P. Steensma -- 19. Lenalidomide therapy in MDS / Rami Komrokji, Aristoteles Giagounidis and Alan F. List -- 20. DNA methyltransferase inhibitor therapy in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes / Steven D. Gore -- 21. Intensive chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation in myelodysplastic syndromes / Guillermo F. Sanz and Theo de Witte.