Clinical characteristics and genetic subtypes of Fanconi anemia in Saudi patients

We reviewed our institutional experience from 2011 to 2015 on new cases of Fanconi anemia (FA). Ten unrelated cases were diagnosed during this period. Four patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) had c.2392C > T (p.Arg798(star)) BRIP1/FANCJ mutation. Another child with SAA had novel c.1475T > C (p.Leu492Pro) FANCC mutation. One individual with SAA and acute myeloid leukemia had c.637_643del (p.Tyr213Lysfs(star)6) FANCG mutation. Three patients presented with early onset of cancer, two had BRCA2 mutation c.7007G > A (p.Arg2336His) and one had a novel c.3425del (p.Leu1142Tyrfs(star)21) PALB2 mutation. Another infant with c.3425del PALB2 mutation had clonal aberration with partial trisomy of the long arm of chromosome 17. Mutations in FA downstream pathway genes are more frequent in our series than expected. Our preliminary observation will be confirmed in a large multi-institutional study.