Crnic Institute discovery may explain high risk of leukemia in children with Down syndrome

(University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus) Children with Down syndrome are 20-times more likely to develop acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and 150-times more likely to develop acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared to their typical peers. According to a new study by researchers at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the reason could be that children with Down syndrome are more likely to present with clonal hematopoiesis (CH), a process in which a blood stem cell acquires a genetic mutation that promotes replication.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news