Debbie,
Have there been any new developments?
To partially answer your question, yes, MDS can transform to Leukemia. They aren't completely distinct diseases. Each has a variety of subtypes and a range of severities. Depending on which
MDS Classification method is used, the difference between a diagnosis of MDS and a diagnosis of Leukemia can be the difference between an immature cell count ("blast percentage") of 19% versus 20%.
ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia), and lymphoma are diseases of the lymphatic system, so in that way they are related.