Cyclosporin A and thalidomide in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: Results of a pilot study

[Gene mutations from 511 myelodysplastic syndromes patients performed by targeted gene sequencing]

Objective: To study the characteristics of gene mutations in Chinese myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients. Methods: A total of 511 Chinese patients with MDS performed 112-gene targeted sequencing were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Eighty-three distinct mutant genes were found in 511 patients with MDS. Amongst these, the most frequent mutations was associated with epigenetics (50%) , followed by spliceosome (37%) , signal transduction (34%) , transcription factors (24%) and cell cycle/apoptosis (17%) . 439 subjects (86%) had at least one gene mutation. The mean number of mutations in refractory anemia with unilineage dysplasia (RCUD) was 1.25, refractory anemia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) was 1.73, refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS) was 2.79, refractory anemia with excess blasts-1 (RAEB-1) was 2.22, RAEB-2 was 2.34, MDS with isolated 5q- was 2.67, MDS, unclassified (MDS-U) was 2.00. U2AF1 mutant subjects were more likely to have isolated+8[Q<0.001, OR=4.42 (95% CI 2.23-8.68) ]and less likely to have complex karyotypes[Q=0.005, OR=0.22 (95% CI 0.04-0.72) ]. According to the number of gene mutations, all subjects were categorized into three groups, namely group with 0-1 mutation, with 2 mutations and with three or more mutations. There was a significant difference in overall survival (OS) among three groups (P=0.041) . Conclusion: About 90% patients with MDS have at least one gene mutation. Genes associated with epigenetics and spliceosome are most common mutated genes in MDS. The increased numbers of gene mutations accompany with disease evolution and associate with poor prognosis.

Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay identifies additional copy number changes compared with R-band karyotype and provide more accuracy prognostic information in myelodysplastic syndromes

Cytogenetic analysis provides important diagnostic and prognostic information for patients with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and plays an essential role in the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) and the revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R). Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay is a recently developed technique to identify targeted cytogenetic aberrations in MDS patients. In the present study, we evaluated the results obtained using an MLPA assay in 437 patients with MDS to determine the efficacy of MLPA analysis. Using R-banding karyotyping, 45% (197/437) of MDS patients had chromosomal abnormalities, whereas MLPA analysis detected that 35% (153/437) of MDS cases contained at least one copy-number variations (CNVs) .2/5 individuals (40%) with R-band karyotype failures had trisomy 8 detected using only MLPA. Clonal cytogenetic abnormalities were detected in 20/235 (8.5%) MDS patients with a normal R-band karyotype, and 12/20 (60%) of those patients were reclassified into a higher-risk IPSS-R prognostic category. When sequencing and cytogenetics were combined, the fraction of patients with MDS-related oncogenic lesions increased to 87.3% (233/267 cases). MLPA analysis determined that the median OS of patients with a normal karyotype (n=218) was 65 months compared with 27 months in cases with an aberrant karyotype (P=0.002) in 240 patients with normal or failed karyotypes by R-banding karyotyping. The high-resolution MPLA assay is an efficient and reliable method that can be used in conjunction with R-band karyotyping to detect chromosomal abnormalities in patients with suspected MDS. MLPA may also provide more accurate prognostic information.

[Long- term outcome of thalidomide and cyclosporine in patients with IPSS low/intermediate- 1 myelodysplastic syndromes]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the long- term outcome of cyclosporin A (CsA) combined with thalidomide regime for Chinese patients with IPSS low/intermediate- 1 myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) without del（5q）and the predictive variables which could impact the response to the therapy.

METHODS

Seventy-six MDS patients who were treated with these drugs at a single institute in China were retrospectively analyzed. The polymorphism of cereblon gene, rs1672753, was detected in patients of this cohort by PCR and direct sequencing.

RESULTS

A total of 53% of patients showed hematological improvement（HI）to the therapy. Thirty-one patients（31/73, 43%）achieved erythrocyte response（HI-E）; 15 patients（15/50, 30%）achieved neutrophil response（HI-N); 18 patients（18/58, 31%）achieved platelet response（HI-P). Twenty-seven of the 50 patients（46%）who were dependent on red blood cell transfusion achieved HI- E and became independent of transfusion. The median duration of response among the responders was 22 months (range, 1- 131 + months). Bone marrow blasts ≤2% was the only factor associated with longer response duration in univariate analysis （P=0.010）. There was no significant difference between the two groups of celeblon gene rs1672753 polymorphism either on the response rate or the response duration. The median survival of 67 patients without stem cell transplantation was 82 months. In multivariate analyses, factors significantly correlated with survival were IPSS-R（HR=3.461, 95%CI 1.126-10.639, P=0.030), age ≥ 60 y（HR=4.120, 95%CI 1.070-15.867, P=0.040）and HI-N（HR=7.733, 95%CI 1.007-59.396, P=0.049).

CONCLUSION

CsA combined with thalidomide regime could improve the anemia symptom in low/int-1 risk MDS patients without del（5q）. The predictive value of cereblon gene polymorphism, rs1672753, could not be verified in this study.

Clinical importance of SF3B1 mutations in Chinese with myelodysplastic syndromes with ring sideroblasts

Recent studies report SF3B1 mutations in about 20% of persons of European descent with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Mutations are especially common in persons with ring sideroblasts (RS). SF3B1 mutation state was determined in 104 Chinese with MDS-RS. SF3B1 mutations were found in 55 subjects (53%) including 25 of 39 with refractory anemia and RS (RARS), 26 of 45 (58%) of those with refractory cytopenia with multi-lineage dysplasia and RS (RCMD-RS), 3 of 6 with refractory anemia with excess blasts-1-RS (RAEB1-RS) and 1 of 14 with RAEB2-RS. There were significant correlations between SF3B1 mutation state and platelet levels (P=0.007), mean RBC corpuscular volume (MCV; (P<0.001), proportion of RS (P<0.001) and percent bone marrow erythroblasts (P=0.012) and myeloblasts (P=0.044). Multivariate analyses using a Cox proportional hazards regression model including sex, age, SF3B1 mutation state, hemoglobin concentration, absolute neutrophil level, platelet level, MCV, international prognostic scoring system (IPSS) cytogenetics category, WHO morphologic category and treatment showed SF3B1 mutation state to independently predict survival. These data increase our knowledge of the impact of SF3B1 mutations in persons with MDS. They indicate a similar favorable impact of SF3B1 mutation on survival in Chinese with MDS as reported for persons of European descent.