Pre-transplant short telomeres are associated with high mortality risk after unrelated donor haematopoietic cell transplant for severe aplastic anaemia.

ABSTRACT: Telomeres are essential for chromosomal stability and markers of biological age. We evaluated the effect of pre-transplant short (<10th percentile-for-age) or very short (<5th or <1st percentile-for-age) leucocyte telomere length on survival after unrelated donor haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acquired severe aplastic anaemia (SAA). Patient pre-transplant blood samples and clinical data were available at the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. We used quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in 490 SAA patients who received HCT between 1990 and 2013 (median age = 20 years). One hundred and twelve patients (22·86%) had pre-HCT RTL <10th percentile-for-age, with the majority below the 5th percentile (

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6980174 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature