Fanconi Anemia News and Research

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Fanconi anemia or FA, is a rare, inherited blood disorder that leads to bone marrow failure. FA causes your bone marrow to stop making enough new blood cells for your body to work normally. FA also can cause your bone marrow to make many abnormal blood cells. This can lead to serious health problems such as cancer.

Researchers discover enzyme crucial for DNA repair

Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.Scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Life Sciences Institute of Zhejiang University in China report the discovery of the enzyme and its role in repairing DNA damage called cross-linking in the Science Express advance online publication of Science.

30 Jul 2010

OHSU partners with UO, Harvard to expedite research into compounds that may prevent Fanconi anemia

Oregon Health & Science University is partnering with the University of Oregon and Harvard Medical School to expedite basic science research into new and existing drugs and compounds that may prevent the complications associated with Fanconi anemia, an inherited condition that can lead to bone marrow failure and cancer.

28 May 2010

Genetic instability in people with Fanconi anemia: New proteins in FA DNA repair pathway may help explain

Identification of two new proteins in the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway may help explain genetic instability in people with Fanconi anemia and how otherwise healthy people are susceptible to cancer from environmentally triggered DNA damage.

26 Mar 2010

NYU professor conducts genetic screening at academic campuses in Boston

Dr. Harry Ostrer, professor of pediatrics, pathology and medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center will be conducting genetic screening at four college campuses in Boston on February 1st and 2nd. Individuals interested in being screened should sign- up online at www.med.nyu.edu/genetics.

28 Jan 2010

Study suggests Fanconi Anemia and Bloom's Syndrome proteins may act in common DNA repair pathway

A new study establishes a molecular link that bridges two rare inherited disorders and explains why these diseases result in genetic instability. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 24th issue of the journal Molecular Cell, may lead to a better understanding of the complex mechanisms that enable cells to repair damaged DNA.

28 Dec 2009

Queen’s University Belfast to study individualized radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer

Individualised radiotherapy treatment based on a person’s genetic make up could soon become a reality, according to Breast Cancer Campaign.

19 Nov 2009

NECBB reports cord blood banking is on the rise

New England Cord Blood Bank, Inc. (NECBB), a global cord blood processing and storage facility, announced today that the company has seen a consistent and robust increase in the cord blood units being used for transplants within the past few years.

29 Sep 2009

eChIP genetic technique developed to examine FA proteins with DNA crosslinks

While Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare and dangerous disease, new laboratory research at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shows it may lead researchers toward clues in more common diseases, including highly hereditary types of breast cancer.

11 Sep 2009

Combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem cells cure human genetic disease in vitro

A study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. The study, published in the May 31, 2009 early online edition of Nature, is a major milestone on the path from the laboratory to the clinic.

31 May 2009

Pathway opens up cure for Fanconi anemia

In patients with Fanconi anaemia (FA) one of the DNA repair mechanisms that normally protects us against cancer no longer works adequately. Dutch researcher Najim Ameziane set out to find the genes responsible for this defect.

14 May 2009

Genetic breakdown in Fanconi anemia may have link to HPV-associated cancer

A genetic malfunction that causes DNA instability in people with the blood disorder Fanconi anemia may put them at high risk for squamous cell carcinomas linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study posted online ahead of print by Oncogene.

3 Dec 2008

Scientists unravel how smoking causes cancer

Scientists have for the first time pinpointed a protein that explains how smoking can directly lead to genetic changes that cause cancer - research published in the British Journal of Cancer reveals.

15 May 2008

Most carriers of Fanconi anemia genes are not at a higher risk of cancer

For almost 50 years, Fanconi anemia has been associated with leukemia. Not just among those who have the genetic disorder but among their family members, whose genes, they were told, made them highly susceptible to a variety of malignancies.

13 Dec 2007

DNA repair by Brca2 prevents medulloblastoma

St. Jude investigators have gained some of the first major insights into how certain genes known to prevent cancer also guide the nervous system's normal development before birth and during infancy by repairing DNA damage.

23 Jun 2007

New discoveries on genes implicated in Fanconi anaemia

An international research consortium, which included the participation of the Mutagnesi Group from the UAB, has made outstanding progress in the study of Fanconi anaemia.

3 Jun 2007

Detailed portrait of 700 proteins that help maintain DNA integrity

Cells have the remarkable ability to keep track of their genetic contents and -- when things go wrong, to step in and repair the damage before cancer or another life-threatening condition develops.

28 May 2007

Brca2 gene prevents medulloblastoma

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained some of the first major insights into how certain genes known to prevent cancer also guide the normal development of the nervous system before birth and during infancy by repairing DNA damage.

22 May 2007