Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and matched unrelated donor BMT

A 5 year old with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) developed acute monoblastic leukaemia following a period of myelodysplasia associated with a clonal cytogenetic abnormality involving chromosome 7. Matched unrelated BMT was carried out using standard CY/TBI conditioning and GVHD prophylaxis protocols. The patient experienced no toxicity, had temporary committed progenitor cell engraftment but eventually died from bone marrow failure 1 year post-transplant. This report, to our knowledge, documents the first reported case of matched unrelated donor BMT for SDS/AML and we speculate that standard conditioning regimens are probably safe in this group of patients.