Classification can be confusing, and one thing I found was that it was hard to get specialists/haematologists to give a definite classification. It surprised me that the blood cancer I have was, until relatively recently, not considered by some international experts to be a cancer, even though it can progress to acute luekemia. Myelodysplastic Syndrome, MDS, has been has had its international classification and staging system changed/reviewed in the recent past. Depending on the age of the haematologist the way they speak about the disease seems to be different, even thought the treatment might be similar. It can be classified depending on prognosis or chromosomal information. It seems that things are not always black and white with blood cancers, and classification is based on the information available, which changes over time as research continues. MDS seems to be a collection of diseases, not just one disease. Some MDSs are very like Aplastic Anaemia, some are atypical and don't fit into a category at all. The treatment options can vary with your age and progression of the disease, and where you live (which country). I know MDS is a different disease to NHL and HL, but if the experts are having these discussions about classification on an international level, I guess that feeds down to a national level, and our level. At the end of the day I guess its the treatment you get that counts.
