Pablo Velasco Puyó
Doctor in the Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Department at Vall d'Hebron Hospital and associate professor in the Paediatrics Department at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
This is a work that shows, through multiomics and single cell techniques, mechanisms that explain some of the blood alterations we see most frequently in children with trisomy 21, such as larger and more numerous red blood cells (polycythaemia and macrocytosis). They also describe differences in mitochondria, oxidative stress and chromatin organisation, which may be some of the factors why these children are more at risk of developing leukaemia.
Further studies that demonstrate the origin of these leukaemias are essential to design more targeted, more effective and less toxic strategies in this fragile population.