Has the lifespan of patients with Werner syndrome been extended?
Studies from the late 2000s report the life expectancy of patients with Werner syndrome (WS), with the two leading causes of death being malignant neoplasms and atherosclerotic diseases. A recent study analyzed 123 patients with WS and 14 patients who died between 2011 and 2020.
Amongst the patients who died there was a mean age of 59.0 ± 8.9 years (mean ± SD). No patient died of atherosclerotic diseases while 8 deaths were the result of non-epithelial tumors.
The authors concluded that more screening and treatment methods for non-epithelial tumors need to be developed.
Reference
Kato H, Koshizaka M, Kaneko H, et al. Lifetime extension and the recent cause of death in Werner syndrome: a retrospective study from 2011 to 2020. Orphanet J Rare Dis;2022;17(1):226. doi: 10.1186/s13023-022-02383-w. PMID: 35698103.