health

Having FA makes a person likely to develop many kinds of cancer,
even after bone marrow transplantation. People with FA often develop
leukemia, a cancer originating in blood cells. The type of leukemia most
often associated with FA is called acute myelogenous leukemia (AML),
which is characterized by a rapid and unhealthy increase in immature
white blood cells that cannot be used by the body to fight infection. The
accumulating immature cells replace the normal bone marrow as well as
the normal blood cells and are cancerous. This condition is life threatening.
AML progresses rapidly and is typically fatal within weeks or months
if left untreated. Other types of cancer associated with FA are characterized
by tumors of the head and neck or tumors of the esophagus, reproductive
tract, brain, liver, kidney, and lung.