LOS ANGELES — Student Zoe Davis, 20, was just weeks into her junior year when she landed back in the hospital with severe sickle cell pain earlier this month. She is doing what she can to prevent the crippling attacks in her arms, legs and abdomen that are becoming more frequent.

She knows new gene therapies may provide long-term relief to some of the 100,000 Americans like her who suffer from sickle cell disease. But she's holding off trying one.

"It is so new ... I wanted to see more success stories before I committed to it," said Davis, who is studying veterinary science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro.

Her hesitation illustrates a common reason why take-up for the potentially life-changing treatments, which cost US$2 million (S$2.6 million) to US$3 million in the US, is proving even slower than expected, interviews with half a dozen US specialists and six sickle cell patients show.

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