1. Fanconi Anemia:
The Molly Nash Story

2. What is Fanconi Anemia?
• Genetic disorder
• Causes bone marrow failure
• Causes leukemia
• Usually leads to death in early
childhood

3. Symptoms
• Abnormal hands and arms
• Skeleton problems (hips,
spine)
• Skin discoloration
• Short stature
• Mental retardation
• Digestive system problems
• Hearing problems
• Bone marrow failure
• Susceptible to infections
• Predisposition to leukemia
and other cancers

4. Molly Nash was
diagnosed with
Fanconi Anemia
shortly after she was
born

5. Molly’s Timeline
Birth 3 years 4 years 6 years
o hand bone marrow failure pre-leukemia successful cord
abnormalities blood transplant
o hip dislocation
o deaf in the left ear
o heart
abnormalities
o abnormal
digestive system

6. Treatment
•Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)
• Cells from the patient’s bone marrow are replaced
by
OR
donor bone donor umbilical
marrow cells chord blood cells

7. The Nash Family
•Lisa Nash underwent in vitro fertilization
•Doctors used pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis (PGD)

8. Pre-Implantation Genetic
Diagnosis (PGD)

9. The Nash Family
•The Nash's selected embryos that:
o did not have FA
o were a protein match with Molly (this
increased the chances that the bone
marrow transplant would be
successful)

10. Molly Nash - Treatment
•Molly received umbilical cord blood cells
from her baby brother when she was 6
years old
•She is no longer at risk for leukemia
•She still needs treatments for her
digestive and skeletal system
abnormalities