Sickle cell disease —Unanswered questions and future directions in therapy

Sickle cell disease (SCD) was regarded as a “disease of childhood” less than 50 years ago in 1960 [1], and only few children survived beyond their teens, while 25 years later, the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease reported a median age of death of 42 years for males and 48 years for females with HbSS, and that 85% HbSS patients wil l survive to adulthood [2]. More recent studies confirmed that the majority of newborns (94% to 99%) in well-resourced countries will now survive to adulthood [3-6], but early mortality remains.

Source: Seminars in Hematology - May 26, 2018 Category: Hematology Authors: Swee Lay Thein, John Tisdale Source Type: research