Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a clinically aggressive malignancy with a dismal prognosis. Combined BRAF/MEK inhibition offers significant therapeutic benefit in patients with -mutant ATCs. However, relapses are common and overall survival remains poor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenomic profiles and prognostic biomarkers in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from ancestry-diverse populations are underexplored. We analyzed the exomes and transcriptomes of 100 patients with AML with genomically confirmed African ancestry (Black; Alliance) and compared their somatic mutation frequencies with those of 323 self-reported white patients with AML, 55% of whom had genomically confirmed European ancestry (white; BeatAML). Here we find that 73% of 162 gene mutations recurrent in Black patients, including a hitherto unreported PHIP alteration detected in 7% of patients, were found in one white patient or not detected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute myeloid leukemia is the most common form of leukemia and can present with a wide variety of signs and symptoms. This article presents a case of a middle-aged male who presented with ongoing upper respiratory cold-like symptoms and was then found to be severely pancytopenic. A diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia was made after a bone marrow biopsy, and the patient underwent induction chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClonal hematopoiesis (CH) identified by somatic gene variants with variant allele fraction (VAF) ≥ 2% is associated with an increased risk of hematologic malignancy. However, CH defined by a broader set of genotypes and lower VAFs is ubiquitous in older individuals. To improve our understanding of the relationship between CH genotype and risk of hematologic malignancy, we analyzed data from 42 714 patients who underwent blood sequencing as a normal comparator for nonhematologic tumor testing using a large cancer-related gene panel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOncogenic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenases 1 and 2 (IDH1/2) produce 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), which inhibits dioxygenases that modulate chromatin dynamics. The effects of 2HG have been reported to sensitize IDH tumors to poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. However, unlike PARP-inhibitor-sensitive BRCA1/2 tumors, which exhibit impaired homologous recombination, IDH-mutant tumors have a silent mutational profile and lack signatures associated with impaired homologous recombination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasurable residual disease (MRD) is a powerful prognostic factor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, pre-treatment molecular predictors of immunophenotypic MRD clearance remain unclear. We analyzed a dataset of 211 patients with pre-treatment next-generation sequencing who received induction chemotherapy and had MRD assessed by serial immunophenotypic monitoring after induction, subsequent therapy, and allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about whether risk classification at diagnosis predicts post-hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We evaluated 8709 patients with AML from the CIBMTR database, and after selection and manual curation of the cytogenetics data, 3779 patients in first complete remission were included in the final analysis: 2384 with intermediate-risk, 969 with adverse-risk, and 426 with KMT2A-rearranged disease. An adjusted multivariable analysis detected an increased risk of relapse for patients with KMT2A-rearranged or adverse-risk AML as compared to those with intermediate-risk disease (hazards ratio [HR], 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) as consolidation after initial venetoclax therapy and the efficacy of venetoclax salvage therapy for relapse after allo-HCT in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are unclear. We conducted a retrospective study of patients with AML or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who received venetoclax either before or after allo-HCT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Yale University from 11 August 2016 to 16 November 2020. Among 39 heavily pretreated patients who received venetoclax before allo-HCT, median OS from allo-HCT was not reached after a median follow up of 12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor protein p53 (TP53) is the most frequently mutated gene in cancer. In patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), TP53 mutations are associated with high-risk disease, rapid transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), resistance to conventional therapies and dismal outcomes. Consistent with the tumor-suppressive role of TP53, patients harbor both mono- and biallelic mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(6;9)(p22;q34) is a distinct entity accounting for 1-2% of AML cases. A substantial proportion of these patients have a concomitant -ITD. While outcomes are dismal with intensive chemotherapy, limited evidence suggests allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) may improve survival if performed early during first complete remission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasurable residual disease is associated with inferior outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Measurable residual disease monitoring enhances risk stratification and may guide therapeutic intervention. The European LeukemiaNet working party recently came to a consensus recommendation incorporating leukemia associated immunophenotype-based different from normal approach by multi-color flow cytometry for measurable residual disease evaluation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJAK inhibitors for myelofibrosis (MF) reduce spleen size, control constitutional symptoms, and may improve survival. We studied the clinical characteristics of 548 MF patients treated with JAK inhibitors from 2008 to 2016 to better understand predictors of splenic response. Response was defined as a 50% decrease in spleen size at early (3-4 months on therapy) and late (5-12 months) timepoints after therapy initiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In the era before Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, cytogenetic information was used to predict survival in myelofibrosis patients. However, the prognostic value of cytogenetics in the setting of JAK inhibitor therapy remains unknown.
Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 180 patients with bone marrow biopsy-proven myelofibrosis from 3 US academic medical centers.
Purpose Of Review: Treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) had remained essentially unchanged for several years; however, the advent of molecular testing has generated insight into the biology of this disease which is now being translated into clinical practice. New treatment strategies which improve drug delivery and exploit cellular targets are changing the landscape of how we treat this disease.
Recent Findings: Induction therapy is in the process of changing for several patient populations.
Inflammation is an important contributor to pediatric and adult neurodegeneration. Understanding the genetic determinants of neuroinflammation provides valuable insight into disease mechanism. We characterize a disorder of recurrent immune-mediated neurodegeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF