Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in Fanconi anemia from Turkey: A report of four cases

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is currently the treatment of choice for patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) if a suitable donor is available. Four children with FA underwent allogeneic BMT from HLA-identical siblings during the period from 1995 to 1996. Pretransplant conditioning was Cyclophosphamide (Cy)(20 mg/kg) + Thoracoabdominal irradiation (TAI)(500cGy) +/- Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (2mg/kg/day ×3). Cyclosporin A (CsA) was used as GvHD prophylaxis. The time of neutrophil (ANC>500) and platelet (>50,000) recovery were at 11-14 and 17-25 days, respectively. One patient with a pretransplant history of multiple transfusions experienced graft rejection and died at day +29 with infection and bleeding. Although three patients sustained engraftment one developed donor originated acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) 18 months after BMT and died with CNS hemorrhage and infection at +25 months following 7 months of chemotherapy. None of the patients developed grade 3-4 acute GvHD. Cytotoxicity included grade II mucositis in all and severe gastroenteritis in one patient. During a follow-up period of 10 months and 2 years, two patients are well with normal blood count, recovering immune function and have a Karnofsky score of 90%.