At our recent meeting of over 150 researchers in Amsterdam, scientists praised the cloning of this new gene and related discoveries about the protein pathway as the most significant advances of the year. We are hopeful that this greater understanding of Fanconi anemia will lead to vastly improved therapies and a cure. Fanconi Anemia Facts FA causes bone marrow failure. Bone marrow slowly stops making red and white blood cells, and platelets. It is a recessive disorder, which means when both parents carry a defect in the same FA gene, there is a 25 percent chance that their child will be born with the disease.
Many FA patients develop acute myelogenous leukemia.
Older patients may develop other cancers. Many patients do not reach adulthood. The disease usually reveals itself between the ages of 3 and 12. Sometimes the disease is evident at birth through birth defects, such as thumb and arm defects.