Fanconi anemia
Disease Information
Overview
Fanconi anemia is a complex disease. That's why we have a multidisciplinary clinic - so children are not only seen by hematologists but can also be seen by geneticists, cardiologists, kidney experts and hand surgeons. Essentially any kind of expertise that's needed, we provide in our clinic.
David A. Williams, MD, co-director of the Fanconi Anemia and Bone Marrow Failure Multidisciplinary Clinic
Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare, inherited blood disorder caused by mutations in any of at least 14 genes. These mutations make it hard for blood stem cells (and other cells in the body) to detect and repair damage to their DNA, causing the bone marrow to fail.
Children with the disorder may have several physical abnormalities in addition to bone marrow failure and an increased risk of developing cancer. FA is a severe lifelong condition that requires ongoing medical treatment.
How Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center approaches Fanconi anemia
Experts in our Fanconi Anemia and Bone Marrow Failure Multidisciplinary Clinic provide compassionate and patient and family-centered care to young patients with FA and bone marrow failure syndromes.
- Two experienced pediatric hematologists, Colin Sieff, MB.BCh, and David A. Williams, MD, oversee the Clinic.
- Our team includes doctors from other departments within the hospital, each of whom is familiar with the implications of FA in their specialty area.
- Our research is focused on increasing our molecular understanding of FA, as well as improvements in diagnosis and treatment.
- We offer multiple clinical trials for FA patients.
- We work as part of one team with the DF/CHCC Stem Cell Transplant Program. This team is familiar with and has experience doing hematopoietic stem cell transplants as a way of treating Fanconi anemia in children.
Fanconi anemia: Reviewed by David A. Williams, MD,
© Boston Children’s Hospital, 2012
