Re: Fw: Down syndrome patients could unlock mysteries of aging - USA

March 26, 2010

Hi,

I'll finally weigh in on this. On the sub-topic.

> Hmm, interesting article except for the fact that they say " except for a

> rare paediatric leukaemia " they don't get cancer.

The leukemia that children with DS get, while similar to that of other

(more rare) childhood leukemia, is believed to be different in its

origins. It is also more treatable than leukemia in children without DS.

This is clearly a DS related disease and essentially all with mosaic DS

(part trisomy 21 and part normal) who have childhood leukemia have

leukemia cells which are only trisomy.

So, while juvenile DS leukemia is common (about 3% incidence), it is

rare in the total world of leukemia which has a much, much larger

population.

The AMLthat my daughter had in her mid 20's was a rare incidence. At

that age leukemia in people with DS is at or below the general level of

incidence. In general, all solid tumor cancers except testicular cancer

seem to be at least ten times less common in people with down syndrome.

This is big.

There is a lot to learn about cancer from this. This is an active area

of study and a few unique individuals who have only a small part of an

extra chromosome-21 and very helpful in being able to locate what

general region of the chromosome is involved.

Exciting stuff for not only our community, but also for the rest of the

world! Just don't get in a hurry for big results because this is very

complicated and it will be many years before the results will play out

to care of individuals.

Rick

p.s. with reference to time needed for broad application ... I was part

of a team that invented the semiconductor laser. We got a wonderful

patent for that. Before that wonderful laser found use in either fiber

communication or in CD and later DVD players, the patents had run out

and the technology was available for free (except for later people who

patented minor improvements or alternative ways to make the lasers).

Progress takes time.

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