Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical value of the determination of serum β2-microglobulin(β2-MG) and lactic dehydrogenase(LDH) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). METHODS： Serum β2-MG was determined by radioimmunoassay. Serum LDH was detected by velocity method. The levels of β2-MG and LDH were compared between 30 healthy people and 45 patients with different types of MDS groups. The survival analysis of MDS patients with high and normal level of β2-MG and LDH was made and compared. RESULTS：The levels of β2-MG in all of MDS groups were significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.01). β2-MG in RAEB-II group were significantly higher than that in RA，RCMD and RAEB-I group(P<0.01). The levels of LDH in RAEB-I，RAEB-II groups was significantly higher than that in RA and RCMD groups (P<0.01). Median survival time of the patients with high levels of LDH andβ2-MG was significantly shorter than that of the patients with normal LDH andβ2-MG (P<0.01). CONCLUSION：Combined determination of the levels of serum β2-MG and LDH could confer important clinical significance in the diagnosis，classification and prognosis of MDS .

Key words: myelodysplastic syndrome, β2-microglobulin, lactic dehydrogenase, median survival time