Predictive Measures to Stratify Clinical Outcomes in Children and Adults With Gaucher Disease and Responses to Specific Therapies

Gaucher disease is part of a rare group of genetic metabolic diseases which are caused by an inherited deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase. The most common form, Type 1 affects 1 in 40,000 to 60,000 individuals in the general population. In Type 1 symptoms may appear at any time from infancy to old age. The disease is associated with anaemia (a decrease in the amount of red blood cells), fatigue (tiredness), bruising and an increased tendency to bleed. An enlarged spleen and liver with stomach swelling may also occur as well as bone pain, fractures and bone deterioration. Type 1 was formerly considered not to affect the brain or nervous system. Some patients with Type 1 Gaucher disease have no symptoms, while others develop serious symptoms that can be life threatening; latterly Parkinsonism and Dementia with Lewy bodies has been noted to occur with increased frequency in patients with this variant of Gaucher disease compared with healthy control subjects in an age-matched population.

In Gaucher Disease Type 3 the brain and spinal cord are affected. Type 3 is rare and affects fewer than 1 in 100,000 people. The brain and spinal cord symptoms in Type 3 are less severe than in those who have evidence of florid neurologocal disease in infancy years of age. The symptoms of the brain and spinal cord appear in early to late childhood, and patients with Type 3 Gaucher disease live often, but not always, well into adulthood.

Gaucher disease is not gender-specific and its signs and symptoms may appear in affected individuals at any age, with Type 3 being commonly diagnosed in childhood. Although individuals from any ethnic background may develop Gaucher disease, Type 1 Gaucher disease is most common among Jews of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) descent. Among this group, about 1 in 900 people are at risk of Gaucher disease.

There are approximately 280 people in England diagnosed with Gaucher Disease, who receive treatment or management at one of the treating hospitals.

Patients with Gaucher disease have an increased risk of developing myeloma and Parkinson's disease. Myeloma, also known as multiple myeloma, is a type of bone marrow cancer affecting the white blood cells of the immune system which generate antibodies. Approximately 1 in 10 Gaucher patients have a specific blood protein - a monoclonal antibody called a paraprotein, which is found in both malignant and non-malignant conditions, including myeloma.