telomere length
 

Anybody here ever had this test? Or hear of it?

http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/s...2010anemia.htm

Thanks.

Telomer length
 

Hi edithr,
As far as I understand this test is still only done in trials.
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2008/webpr...Paper7294.html
Kind regards
Birgitta-A
71 yo, dx MDS Interm-1 2006, Thalidomide 50 mg 4 caps/week, Prednisone 5 mg, Exjade 500 mg and Neupogen 2 injections/week.

They're testing my son, along with mine and my husbands blood for it. Through a research project. I know it's early in the morning, but I couldn't read the article, it was too technical for my puny brain. Maybe later today it'll make more sense.

Telomere lengths
 

Hi edithr,
Read only the results ;):
1.Telomere lengths in whole blood were significantly shorter among MDS cases.

2. Among MDS cases, telomere lengths in whole blood differed by MDS subtype, ranging from a mean T/S ratio of 2.2 in patients with refractory anemia to 4.3 in patients with refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts.

3. MDS cases were more likely than controls to report past occupational exposures to paints, insecticides and organophosphates, and telomere lengths were shorter among those exposed to these substances than those who were not.

4. Flow-FISH analysis showed that MDS cases had shorter telomere lengths in both CD15+ neutrophils and and CD19+ lymphocytes.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A

This is still fairly new research. The first any of us heard about it was in 2005, and then only related to AA. The thinking at that point was that people who had shortened telomeres were less likely to respond to IST (ATG/cyclo), so it might be better for them to go directly to transplant. That is the only practical application I can think of. The test is not routinely done, and we didn't ask for it because by that point we already knew that Ken had responded to IST. The relationship to relapse is news to me, as is the MDS connection.

Yes, I was tested for this November 2011 at the National Institutes of health (NIH). The results were negative, however had it been positive it might have explained the cause of my aplastic anemia.

Best, Dena

I should update. Eric was later tested at repeatdiagnostics.com in Canada. We had to jump through hoops with our insurance, but whatever.

Three of his telomeres are in the 1st percentile, the other three are in the 10th percentile. There was some talk that he might have Dyskeratosis Congenita, but they decided he did not. DC patients have ALL telomeres well below the first percentile.

Many aplastic patients have shortened telomeres.