Glioma
This group comprises anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastoma multiforme. Whereas the median overall survival of anaplastic (WHO grade III) gliomas is approximately 3 years, glioblastoma multiforme has a poor median overall survival of c. 15 months.
Myelodysplastic syndrome
The best prognosis is seen with RA and RARS, where some nontransplant patients live more than a decade (the average is on the order of three to five years, although long-term remission is possible if a bone marrow transplant is successful). The worst outlook is with RAEB-T, where the mean life expectancy is less than 1 year. About one-quarter of patients develop overt leukemia. The others die of complications of low blood count or unrelated disease. The International Prognostic Scoring System is another tool for determining the prognosis of MDS, published in "Blood" in 1997. This system takes into account the percentage of blasts in the marrow, cytogenetics, and number of cytopenias.