Fei Xu1, Rong Han1, Jian Zhang2, Zheng Li1, Jun Wang1, Xiao-Ling Chu1, Jing-Qiu Yu1, Chao Wang3, Tao Tao4, Hong-Jie Shen1, Su-Ning Chen1, De-Pei Wu1, Song-Bai Liu5, Qiao-Cheng Qiu6, Sheng-Li Xue7. 1. Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Institute of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China. 2. Department of Blood Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China. 3. Department of Hematology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanyang Medical College, Nanyang, China. 4. Department of Internal Medicine, the Fifth People's Hospital of Suzhou, Suzhou, China. 5. Suzhou Key Laboratory for Medical Biotechnology, Suzhou Vocational Health College, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: liusongbai@126.com. 6. Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Institute of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: qiuqiaocheng@163.com. 7. Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Institute of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: slxue@suda.edu.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: FLT3 mutations have been well-studied in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and the detection of the FLT3 gene has become a clinical routine. However, it has not been fully analyzed in other hematologic malignancies, such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2010 and 2016, 304 adult patients with de novo MDS had the FLT3 sequence tested on their bone marrow sample. With 279 patients who had follow-up information, we also analyzed the impact of clinical and laboratory characteristics as well as FLT3 mutation status and treatment on prognosis. RESULTS: We found that the transformation rate was 3 (42.9%) of 7 patients in the FLT3-ITD-positive group, compared with 31 (10.4%) of 297 among FLT3-ITD-negative patients (P = .033). The median progression-free survival of the FLT3-ITD mutated and wild-type groups were 43 days and 363.5 days, respectively (P < .0001). The median overall survival (OS) of the 2 groups were 218 days and 410.5 days, respectively (P < .0001). We also found that 5 factors had independent prognostic impact on OS: white blood cell counts, bone marrow blast percentage, cytogenetics, transplantation status, and FLT3-ITD mutation. Furthermore, compared with the transformation group, the non-progression group was younger (P = .034), with a lower platelet count (P = .022), a lower bone marrow blast percentage (P = .001), a lower FLT3-ITD incidence (P = .007), and a longer OS (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: When observed at the MDS stage, patients harboring FLT3-ITD mutations had higher AML transformation rate, quicker disease progression, and shorter survival than wild-type patients. Nevertheless, once the disease progressed to leukemia, the impact of FLT3-ITD mutations on prognosis was slight. In addition, the prognosis of secondary AML was very poor whether there was an FLT3-ITD mutation or not.
BACKGROUND:FLT3 mutations have been well-studied in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and the detection of the FLT3 gene has become a clinical routine. However, it has not been fully analyzed in other hematologic malignancies, such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2010 and 2016, 304 adult patients with de novo MDS had the FLT3 sequence tested on their bone marrow sample. With 279 patients who had follow-up information, we also analyzed the impact of clinical and laboratory characteristics as well as FLT3 mutation status and treatment on prognosis. RESULTS: We found that the transformation rate was 3 (42.9%) of 7 patients in the FLT3-ITD-positive group, compared with 31 (10.4%) of 297 among FLT3-ITD-negative patients (P = .033). The median progression-free survival of the FLT3-ITD mutated and wild-type groups were 43 days and 363.5 days, respectively (P < .0001). The median overall survival (OS) of the 2 groups were 218 days and 410.5 days, respectively (P < .0001). We also found that 5 factors had independent prognostic impact on OS: white blood cell counts, bone marrow blast percentage, cytogenetics, transplantation status, and FLT3-ITD mutation. Furthermore, compared with the transformation group, the non-progression group was younger (P = .034), with a lower platelet count (P = .022), a lower bone marrow blast percentage (P = .001), a lower FLT3-ITD incidence (P = .007), and a longer OS (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: When observed at the MDS stage, patients harboring FLT3-ITD mutations had higher AML transformation rate, quicker disease progression, and shorter survival than wild-type patients. Nevertheless, once the disease progressed to leukemia, the impact of FLT3-ITD mutations on prognosis was slight. In addition, the prognosis of secondary AML was very poor whether there was an FLT3-ITD mutation or not.