Responsiveness to stem cell factor (SCF) of peripheral blood colony-forming cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

We have previously reported that serum stem factor (SCF) levels are significantly lower in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) than normal controls. We have now studied the effects of adding SCF to cultures of blood mononuclear cells from patients with MDS and normal subjects. Three of 17 patients with MDS showed marked increases in erythroid colony numbers with SCF + erythropoietin compared to interleukin-3 + erythropoietin. In two cases (1RA and 1ISA) the erythroid colony numbers became normal. The same RA patient also showed a marked increase in myeloid colony numbers, which were undetectable with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor alone, but within the normal range when SCF was added. A fourth patient (ISA) showed a 4.7-fold increase in myeloid colonies with SCF, but no erythroid response. The normal subjects showed a trend towards increased numbers of myeloid colonies with SCF; erythroid colonies did not increase. A correlation was found between the MDS patients' haemoglobin levels and erythroid colony numbers with and without SCF, but there was no correlation between erythroid or myeloid colonies in the presence of SCF and their serum SCF level.