Genomic Analysis of NPM1 Mutation and KMT2A(MLL)-Rearrangement/Amplification in Japanese Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Hematologic Malignancies (HM)-Screen-Japan 01

Background and Methods: NPM1 mutation and KMT2A(MLL)-rearrangement/amplification are present in approximately 27% and 8.5% patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), respectively (data from cBioPortal). Although they have different clinical features and prognostic impact, recent studies suggest that the MLL co-factor, menin, plays a key role in maintaining self-renewal of immature leukemic cells by upregulating transcription of HOXA and MEIS (Gundry et al.). However, the real-world epidemiology of these mutations and co-existing gene alterations have not been thoroughly investigated in Japan. We launched an actionable mutation profiling multicenter study entitled Hematologic Malignancies (HM)-SCREEN-Japan 01 (UMIN000035233). In this study, a comprehensive genomic assay was performed by Foundation One Heme (F1H) panel for patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) AML as well as patients with newly-diagnosed (ND) AML who are ineligible for standard chemotherapy. Paraffin-embedded bone marrow samples were gathered from 17 Japanese faculties and the F1H reports were returned to the patients. Results: One-hundred-eighty-two patients were recruited in this study and the F1H report was successfully returned in 177 patients (97.3%). Median age of 68 patients with ND-AML was 73 [63-79] years and those of 109 patients with R/R-AML was 50 [40-68.5] years. Median turn-around time was 13 days (minimum 8 days).We found 32 patients (18.1%) with NPM1 mutation and 23 patients (13.0%) of KMT2A(MLL)-rearrangement/amplification out of the 177 patients. These two alterations were mutually exclusive in this study. The median age of patients with NPM1 mutation (NPM1 mt.) and KMT2A-rearrangement (KMT2A-r) were 56.5 [43.5-73.8] and 62 [45-71] years, respectively. Three quarters or more patients were R/R-AML in both groups. WT1 expression levels were much higher in patients with NPM1 mt. than the other group (6,000 [77-110,000] vs. 93 [34-5,800] copies/mcgRNA). The major amino acid alteration of NPM1 was a frameshift mutation at the 288 th histidine (W288fs*12). Patterns of KMT2A(MLL)-rearrangement included MLL fusion (e.g., MLL-MLLT3) and partial tandem duplication (PTD) in ten patients each. MLL amplification was observed in three patients. Frequently co-occurring mutations with NPM1 mt. included FLT3 (56.3%), DNMT3A (46.9%), TET2 (34.4%), WT1 (18.8%), IDH1 (18.8%), and IDH2 (15.6%). Those with KMT2A-r included FLT3 (39.1%), TP53 (26.1%), PTPN11 (21.7%), DNMT3A (17.4%), and IDH2 (