1. Internal tandem duplication of the FLT3 gene confers poor overall survival in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with all-trans retinoic acid and anthracycline-based chemotherapy: an International Consortium on Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia study.
- Author
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Lucena-Araujo AR, Kim HT, Jacomo RH, Melo RA, Bittencourt R, Pasquini R, Pagnano K, Fagundes EM, Chauffaille Mde L, Chiattone CS, Lima AS, Ruiz-Argüelles G, Undurraga MS, Martinez L, Kwaan HC, Gallagher R, Niemeyer CM, Schrier SL, Tallman MS, Grimwade D, Ganser A, Berliner N, Ribeiro RC, Lo-Coco F, Löwenberg B, Sanz MA, and Rego EM
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Child, DNA, Neoplasm genetics, Daunorubicin administration & dosage, Disease-Free Survival, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic, Hemoglobins analysis, Humans, Idarubicin administration & dosage, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Latin America epidemiology, Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute drug therapy, Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute mortality, Leukocyte Count, Male, Middle Aged, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion genetics, Treatment Outcome, Tretinoin administration & dosage, Young Adult, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols therapeutic use, Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute genetics, Neoplasm Proteins genetics, Tandem Repeat Sequences, fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 genetics
- Abstract
Activating internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations in the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene (FLT3-ITD) are associated with poor outcome in acute myeloid leukemia, but their prognostic impact in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) remains controversial. Here, we screened for FLT3-ITD mutations in 171 APL patients, treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and anthracycline-based chemotherapy. We identified FLT3-ITD mutations in 35 patients (20 %). FLT3-ITD mutations were associated with higher white blood cell counts (P < 0.0001), relapse-risk score (P = 0.0007), higher hemoglobin levels (P = 0.0004), higher frequency of the microgranular morphology (M3v) subtype (P = 0.03), and the short PML/RARA (BCR3) isoform (P < 0.0001). After a median follow-up of 38 months, FLT3-ITD(positive) patients had a lower 3-year overall survival rate (62 %) compared with FLT3-ITD(negative) patients (82 %) (P = 0.006). The prognostic impact of FLT3-ITD on survival was retained in multivariable analysis (hazard ratio: 2.39, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.17-4.89; P = 0.017). Nevertheless, complete remission (P = 0.07), disease-free survival (P = 0.24), and the cumulative incidence of relapse (P = 0.94) rates were not significantly different between groups. We can conclude that FLT3-ITD mutations are associated with several hematologic features in APL, in particular with high white blood cell counts. In addition, FLT3-ITD may independently predict a shorter survival in patients with APL treated with ATRA and anthracycline-based chemotherapy.
- Published
- 2014
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