The purpose of the prospective assessment of QOL is to identify and quantify the health utilities and QOL experienced by patients who have been diagnosed with MDS. As a secondary outcome we will also be examining the relationship between stage at diagnosis and health utility and the evolution of this relationship over time. As well, we would like to see if and how the status of the disease state affects health utility.

The purpose of the tissue bank: modern scientific techniques can now measure many genes and proteins from tissue samples. The results of this testing may help provide new insight into the cause and treatment of malignant and pre-malignant conditions such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).This will be useful information as MDS is a chronic, incurable disease that is often progressive.