aplastic Anaemia (AA)

Aplastic anaemia is a rare blood disorder, which causes blood cell production to break down, and so insufficient blood cells are produced. Aplastic anemia is not a blood cancer, which is the over production of abnormal, or cancerous, blood cells. Rather, it is a lack of healthy blood cells, but this in itself leads to serious problems. Cytogenetic abnormalities are uncommon in aplastic anemia but the most common findings are +8, -7/del7q, 1q deletion. Abnormal cytogenetics can be an indicator of an MDS clone and also appears to be associated with higher transformation rates and poorer responses to therapy. In the absence of G-banded cytogenetics FISH studies for 5, 7 and 8 can be performed.