Summary of pretreatment characteristics
| No. patients | 27 |
| Men | 13 |
| Women | 14 |
| Age (y) | |
| Median | 68 |
| Range | 52-78 |
| FAB subtype | |
| RA | 19 |
| RARS | 3 |
| RAEB | 5 |
| Karyotype* | |
| Good | 12 |
| Intermediate | 6 |
| Poor | 1 |
| IPSS† | |
| Low risk | 5 |
| Intermediate-1 risk | 13 |
| Intermediate-2 risk | 1 |
| Not applicable | 8 |
| Hemoglobin levels | |
| Median | 8.1 g/dL |
| Range | 6.1-9.5 g/dL |
| Absolute neutrophil count | |
| Median | 1.9 × 109/L |
| Range | 0.5-4.1 × 109/L |
| Platelet count | |
| Median | 145 × 109/L |
| Range | 32-298 × 109/L |
| Serum erythropoietin (n = 21) | |
| Median | 368.5 mIU/mL |
| Range | 80-1482 mIU/mL |
| Serum ferritin | |
| Median | 654 ng/mL |
| Range | 157-1348 ng/mL |
| MDS duration before rhEPO treatment | |
| Median | 23 months |
| Range | 8-56 months |
| No. patients | 27 |
| Men | 13 |
| Women | 14 |
| Age (y) | |
| Median | 68 |
| Range | 52-78 |
| FAB subtype | |
| RA | 19 |
| RARS | 3 |
| RAEB | 5 |
| Karyotype* | |
| Good | 12 |
| Intermediate | 6 |
| Poor | 1 |
| IPSS† | |
| Low risk | 5 |
| Intermediate-1 risk | 13 |
| Intermediate-2 risk | 1 |
| Not applicable | 8 |
| Hemoglobin levels | |
| Median | 8.1 g/dL |
| Range | 6.1-9.5 g/dL |
| Absolute neutrophil count | |
| Median | 1.9 × 109/L |
| Range | 0.5-4.1 × 109/L |
| Platelet count | |
| Median | 145 × 109/L |
| Range | 32-298 × 109/L |
| Serum erythropoietin (n = 21) | |
| Median | 368.5 mIU/mL |
| Range | 80-1482 mIU/mL |
| Serum ferritin | |
| Median | 654 ng/mL |
| Range | 157-1348 ng/mL |
| MDS duration before rhEPO treatment | |
| Median | 23 months |
| Range | 8-56 months |