Clinical impacts of the mutational spectrum in Japanese patients with primary myelofibrosis

BCR::ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in the era of next-generation sequencing

The classical BCR::ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms such as polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and myelofibrosis (MF) are clonal diseases with the presence of characteristic "driver mutations" in one of the genes: JAK2, CALR, or MPL. The search for mutations in these three genes is required for the diagnosis of MPNs. Nevertheless, the progress that has been made in the field of molecular genetics has opened a new era in medicine. The search for additional mutations in MPNs is helpful in assessing the risk stratification, disease progression, transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), or choosing the right treatment. In some cases, advanced technologies are needed to find a clonal marker of the disease and establish a diagnosis. This review focuses on how the use of new technologies like next-generation sequencing (NGS) helps in the diagnosis of BCR::ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Diagnosis- and Prognosis-Related Gene Alterations in BCR::ABL1-Negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

BCR::ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a group of hematopoietic malignancies in which somatic mutations are acquired in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, resulting in an abnormal increase in blood cells in peripheral blood and fibrosis in bone marrow. Mutations in JAK2, MPL, and CALR are frequently found in BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs, and detecting typical mutations in these three genes has become essential for the diagnosis of BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs. Furthermore, comprehensive gene mutation and expression analyses performed using massively parallel sequencing have identified gene mutations associated with the prognosis of BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs such as ASXL1, EZH2, IDH1/2, SRSF2, and U2AF1. Furthermore, single-cell analyses have partially elucidated the effect of the order of mutation acquisition on the phenotype of BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs and the mechanism of the pathogenesis of BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs. Recently, specific CREB3L1 overexpression has been identified in megakaryocytes and platelets in BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs, which may be promising for the development of diagnostic applications. In this review, we describe the genetic mutations found in BCR::ABL1-negative MPNs, including the results of analyses conducted by our group.

Analysis of somatic mutations in the <i>JAK2</i>, <i>CALR</i>, <i>MPL</i> and <i>ASXL1</i> genes and evaluation of their impact on the survival of patients with myelofibrosis

Background. The development of myelofibrosis (MF) is driven by complex molecular genetic events that include driver somatic mutations responsible for the constitutive activation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway (JAK2, CALR, and MPL), additional mutations affecting epigenetic regulators (TET2, ASXL1, IDH1/2, etc.) and RNA splicing (SRSF2, U2AF1, SF3B1, etc.), as well as genetic aberrations that contribute to genomic instability and disease progression.

Aim. To analyze driver (JAK2, CALR, MPL) and prognostic (ASXL1) somatic mutations in patients with MF and evaluate their impact on survival.

Materials and methods. The study included 29 patients diagnosed with MF, selected by hematologists from the City Clinical Hospital No. 7 and Regional Clinical Hospital (Krasnoyarsk).

Results. 26 (89.6 %) out of 29 examined patients had some driver mutations in JAK2, CALR, MPL genes. The p.V617F mutation in the JAK2 gene was found in 20 (68.9 %) patients. Mutations in the CALR gene were detected in 4 (13.8 %) patients, mutations in the MPL gene were found in 3 patients (10.3 %). In 1 of 26 patients, 2 driver mutations were present simultaneously. 3 (10.3 %) patients were triple negative. Mutations in the ASXL1 gene were detected in 12 (41.4 %) out of 29 examined patients. Conducted targeted NGS (next generation sequencing) for 13 out of 29 patients revealed additional genetic variants that contribute to the understanding of the development mechanism and disease course. When evaluating the overall survival in the groups of patients diagnosed with MF examined by us, depending on the combination of driver (JAK2, CALR, MPL) and prognostic (ASXL1) mutations, no statistically significant differences were found (p = 0.12). This appears to be due to the small sample size. At the same time, assessment of patient survival depending on ASXL1 status showed that in the presence of mutations in the ASXL1 gene, the median survival was 45 months (range 7–120 months), while in the absence of mutations it was 48 months (range 21–359 months) (p = 0.03).

Conclusion. The results obtained allow us to assume that the presence of mutations in the ASXL1 gene is an unfavorable factor in the course of the disease.

Non-driver gene mutation analysis in a large cohort of polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia

OBJECTIVES

A proportion of patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) harbor non-driver mutations associated with poor prognosis. In this study, we analyzed the frequency of non-driver mutations in a large Japanese PV and ET cohort. Furthermore, we studied the relationship of these mutations and prognosis in Japanese patients.

METHODS

We enrolled 843 Japanese patients with PV or ET. Non-driver mutations were analyzed by target resequencing using next-generation sequencing. The association of the mutations with the prognosis was estimated using multivariable logistic regression analysis and log-rank test.

RESULTS

Non-driver mutations were detected in 31.1% and 24.5% patients with PV and ET, respectively. Among them, ASXL1 mutations were identified as a risk factor for leukemic/myelofibrotic transformation in PV and ET patients (hazard ratio: 4.68, p = .006). The higher-risk groups of the mutation-enhanced international prognostic system (MIPSS)-PV and MIPSS-ET incorporating non-driver mutations exhibited significantly shorter overall survival compared with the low-risk group (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

These results implicate the importance of studying non-driver mutations for predicting the prognosis and survival of Japanese PV and ET patients.