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- Eriksson, Anna, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Somatic Exonic Deletions in RUNX1 Constitutes a Novel Recurrent Genomic Abnormality in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
- 2023
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - : American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 29:15, s. 2826-2834
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), somatic mutations (commonly missense, nonsense, and frameshift indels) in RUNX1 are associated with a dismal clinical outcome. Inherited RUNX1 mutations cause familial platelet disorder. As approximately 5%-10% of germline RUNX1 mutations are large exonic deletions, we hypothesized that such exonic RUNX1 aberrations may also be acquired during the development of AML.Experimental Design: Sixty patients with well-characterized AML were analyzed with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (n = 60), microarray (n = 11), and/or whole-genome sequencing (n = 8).Results: In total, 25 (42% of the cohort) RUNX1-aberrant patients (defined by the presence of classical mutations and/or exonic deletions) were identified. Sixteen patients (27%) carried only exonic deletions, 5 (8%) carried classical mutations, and 4 (7%) carried both exonic deletions and mutations. No significant difference was observed between patients with classical RUNX1 mutations and RUNX1 exonic deletions in median overall survival (OS, 53.1 vs. 38.8 months, respectively, P = 0.63). When applying the European Leukemia Net (ELN) classification including the RUNX1-aberrant group, 20% of the patients initially stratified as intermediate-risk (5% of the whole cohort) were reassigned to the high-risk group, which improved the performance of ELN classification regarding OS between intermediate-and high-risk groups (18.9 vs. 9.6 months, P = 0.09).Conclusions: Somatic RUNX1 exonic deletions constitute a novel recurrent aberration in AML. Our findings have important clinical implications regarding AML classification, risk stratification, and treatment decision. Moreover, they argue in favor of further investigating such genomic aberrations not only in RUNX1 but also in other genes implicated in cancer biology and management.
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- Norberg, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Novel variants in Nordic patients referred for genetic testing of telomere-related disorders
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Human Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1018-4813 .- 1476-5438. ; 26:6, s. 858-867
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Telomere-related disorders are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by premature telomere shortening and proliferative failure of a variety of tissues. This study reports the spectrum of telomere-related gene variants and telomere length in Nordic patients referred for genetic testing due to suspected telomere-related disorder. We performed Sanger sequencing of the genes TERT, TERC, DKC1, and TINF2 on 135 unrelated index patients and measured telomere length by qPCR on DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes. We identified pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in 10 index patients, all of which had short telomeres compared to age-matched healthy controls. Six of the 10 variants were novel; three in TERC (n.69_74dupAGGCGC, n.122_125delGCGG, and n.407_408delinsAA) and three in TERT (p.(D684G), p.(R774*), and p.(*1133Wext*39)). The high proportion of novel variants identified in our study highlights the need for solid interpretation of new variants that may be detected. Measurement of telomere length is a useful approach for evaluating pathogenicity of genetic variants associated with telomere-related disorders.
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- Xochelli, Aliki, et al.
(author)
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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia with Mutated IGHV4-34 Receptors : Shared and Distinct Immunogenetic Features and Clinical Outcomes
- 2017
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In: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 23:17, s. 5292-5301
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: We sought to investigate whether B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) stereotypy is associated with particular clinicobiological features among chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients expressing mutated BcR IG (M-CLL) encoded by the IGHV4-34 gene, and also ascertain whether these associations could refine prognostication. Experimental Design: In a series of 19,907 CLL cases with available immunogenetic information, we identified 339 IGHV4-34expressing cases assigned to one of the four largest stereotyped M-CLL subsets, namely subsets #4, #16, #29 and #201, and investigated in detail their clinicobiological characteristics and disease outcomes. Results: We identified shared and subset-specific patterns of somatic hypermutation (SHM) among patients assigned to these subsets. The greatest similarity was observed between subsets #4 and #16, both including IgG-switched cases (IgG-CLL). In contrast, the least similarity was detected between subsets #16 and #201, the latter concerning IgM/D-expressing CLL. Significant differences between subsets also involved disease stage at diagnosis and the presence of specific genomic aberrations. IgG subsets #4 and #16 emerged as particularly indolent with a significantly (P < 0.05) longer time-to-first-treatment (TTFT; median TTFT: not yet reached) compared with the IgM/D subsets #29 and #201 (median TTFT: 11 and 12 years, respectively). Conclusions: Our findings support the notion that BcR IG stereotypy further refines prognostication in CLL, superseding the immunogenetic distinction based solely on SHM load. In addition, the observed distinct genetic aberration landscapes and clinical heterogeneity suggest that not all M-CLL cases are equal, prompting further research into the underlying biological background with the ultimate aim of tailored patient management.
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- Baliakas, Panagiotis, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Cytogenetic complexity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia : definitions, associations, and clinical impact
- 2019
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In: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 133:11, s. 1205-1216
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent evidence suggests that complex karyotype (CK) defined by the presence of >= 3 chromosomal aberrations (structural and/or numerical) identified by using chromosome-banding analysis (CBA) may be relevant for treatment decision-making in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, many challenges toward the routine clinical application of CBA remain. In a retrospective study of 5290 patients with available CBA data, we explored both clinicobiological associations and the clinical impact of CK in CLL. We found that patients with >= 5 abnormalities, defined as high-CK, exhibit uniformly dismal clinical outcomes, independently of clinical stage, TP53 aberrations (deletion of chromosome 17p and/or TP53 mutations [TP53abs]), and the expression of somatically hypermutated (M-CLL) or unmutated immunoglobulin heavy variable genes. Thus, they contrasted with CK cases with 3 or 4 aberrations (low-CK and intermediate-CK, respectively) who followed aggressive disease courses only in the presence of TP53abs. At the other end of the spectrum, patients with CK and 112,119 displayed an exceptionally indolent profile. Building upon CK, TP53abs, and immunoglobulin heavy variable gene somatic hyper-mutation status, we propose a novel hierarchical model in which patients with high-CK exhibit the worst prognosis, whereas those with mutated CLL lacking CK or TP53abs, as well as CK with 112,119, show the longest overall survival. Thus, CK should not be axiomatically considered unfavorable in CLL, representing a heterogeneous group with variable clinical behavior. High-CK with >= 5 chromosomal aberrations emerges as prognostically adverse, independent of other biomarkers. Prospective clinical validation is warranted before ultimately incorporating high-CK in risk stratification of CLL.
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- Baliakas, Panagiotis, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Cytogenetics in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia : ERIC Perspectives and Recommendations
- 2022
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In: HemaSphere. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 2572-9241. ; 6:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mounting evidence underscores the clinical value of cytogenetic analysis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), particularly as it allows the identification of complex karyotype, that has recently emerged as a prognostic and potentially predictive biomarker. That said, explicit recommendations regarding the methodology and clinical interpretation of either chromosome banding analysis (CBA) or chromosome microarray analysis (CMA) are still lacking. We herein present the consensus of the Cytogenetic Steering Scientific Committee of ERIC, the European Research Initiative on CLL, regarding methodological issues as well as clinical interpretation of CBA/CMA and discuss their relevance in CLL. ERIC considers CBA standardized and feasible for CLL on the condition that standards are met, extending from the use of novel mitogens to the accurate interpretation of the findings. On the other hand, CMA, is also standardized, however, robust data on its clinical utility are still scarce. In conclusion, cytogenetic analysis is not yet mature enough to guide treatment choices in CLL. That notwithstanding, ERIC encourages the wide application of CBA, and potentially also CMA, in clinical trials in order to obtain robust evidence regarding the predictive value of specific cytogenetic profiles towards refining risk stratification and improving the management of patients with CLL.
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