AMELIORATE: early intensification in FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia based on peripheral blast clearance – MYNERVA-GIMEMA AML1919 trial

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Mannelli ◽  
Giacomo Gianfaldoni ◽  
Paola Guglielmelli ◽  
Francesco Buccisano ◽  
Roberto Caporale ◽  
...  

AMELIORATE is a Phase III, randomized trial aiming to personalize treatment intensity in FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia. The current study provides an early appraisal of chemosensitivity based on peripheral blasts clearance, as assessed by multiparameter flow cytometry, from baseline to day 4 of induction. This biomarker was previously demonstrated to predict complete remission achievement and measurable residual disease status. For patients experiencing low peripheral blast cells (i.e., ≤2.0 logs), two major adjustments of treatment as compared with current standard of care are envisioned in the experimental arm: the immediate switch to intensified induction with high-doses cytarabine (1500 mg/m2 b.i.d. on days 5–7 of induction); and the early allocation of the patient to high-risk disease category, to be further refined later based on postinduction measurable residual disease status.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fu-Jia Liu ◽  
Wen-Yan Cheng ◽  
Xiao-Jing Lin ◽  
Shi-Yang Wang ◽  
Tian-Yi Jiang ◽  
...  

The clinically ideal time point and optimal approach for the assessment of measurable residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are still inconclusive. We investigated the clinical value of multiparameter flow cytometry-based MRD (MFC MRD) after induction (n = 492) and two cycles of consolidation (n = 421). The latter time point was proved as a superior indicator with independent prognostic significance for both relapse-free survival (RFS, HR = 3.635, 95% CI: 2.433–5.431, P <0.001) and overall survival (OS: HR = 3.511, 95% CI: 2.191–5.626, P <0.001). Furthermore, several representative molecular MRD markers were compared with the MFC MRD. Both approaches can establish prognostic value in patients with NPM1 mutations, and FLT3, C-KIT, or N-RAS mutations involved in kinase-related signaling pathways, while the combination of both techniques further refined the risk stratification. The detection of RUNX1–RUNX1T1 fusion transcripts achieved a considerable net reclassification improvement in predicting the prognosis. Conversely, for patients with biallelic CEBPA or DNMT3A mutations, only the MFC method was recommended due to the poor prognostic discriminability in tracking mutant transcripts. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the MFC MRD after two consolidation cycles independently predicted clinical outcomes, and the integration of MFC and molecular MRD should depend on different types of AML-related genetic lesions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 7529-7529
Author(s):  
Sanam Loghavi ◽  
Tomoyuki Tanaka ◽  
Ken Furudate ◽  
Sa A Wang ◽  
Koichi Takahashi

7529 Background: Clonal Hematopoiesis may persist following complete remission (CR) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but does not necessarily indicate residual AML and may represent persistence of pre-leukemic stem cells. Post-remission CH identified by NGS has not been systemically studied in parallel with measurable residual disease (MRD) detection by flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI). Methods: We studied bone marrow sample from AML patients at baseline and CR by targeted deep NGS of 295 genes (median 403x depth) and compared the results to FCI. Measurable residual disease (MRD) detection by FCI was performed by comparing the phenotype at CR to baseline and by detection of leukemia associated immunophenotype (LAIP) and derivation from normal (DFN) (sensitivity: 0.1%). Post-CR CH was defined as presence of mutations originally detected in AML with variant allele frequency > 2.5%. FCI results were categorized into 4 groups: a) AML MRD negative by LAIP or DFN b) AML MRD+ (similar to baseline) c) AML MRD+ (different from baseline), d) Negative for AML MRD, but aberrant phenotype suggestive of pre-leukemic cells. We correlated FCI and NGS results. Results: 101 patients were included in the study. 45 (45%) had persistent post-CR clonal hematopoiesis; 23 (51%) had phenotypic alterations detected by FCI including AML MRD+ in 18 (40%) and pre-leukemic cells in 5 (10%). Among patient with no detectable mutations by NGS (n = 56; 55%), 14 (25%) had FCI aberrancies including AML MRD+ in 4 (7%) and pre-leukemic cells in 10 (18%). CH was significantly more common in samples with residual phenotypic aberrancies detected by FCI (p = 0.004). There was no significant correlation between FCI group d and persistent CH (p = 0.4). Persistent ASXL1 (p = 0.024, OR = 7.2 ) and RUNX1 (p = 0.016; OR = 17.3) mutations were significantly associated with FCI abnormalities. The correlation coefficient between FCI abnormalities and RUNX1 mutations inferred from a Bayesian network structure was 0.66. Conclusions: NGS and FCI are complementary in evaluating post treatment disease status in AML. Post CR-CH is associated with phenotypic abnormalities that either represent residual AML or pre-leukemic cells. The latter may not have the same prognostic implications as AML MRD; however, the association with outcome needs to be elucidated. Single cell DNA sequencing technologies may be helpful in more accurately deciphering the association of individual gene mutations and their contribution to phenotypic aberrations.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 22-23
Author(s):  
Pavinder Kaur ◽  
Anil Pahuja ◽  
Kevin Nguyen ◽  
Pedro Marques Ramos ◽  
Ling Du ◽  
...  

Background: Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) assessments are gaining increasing acceptance as a prognostic factor for tailoring treatment in hematological malignancies. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease with high relapse rates and presents a high unmet need for effective treatment options. Measurement of residual disease after therapy reflects a combination of all resistance mechanisms and is currently used for guiding treatment options. Study Design: In this study, we aimed to validate an AML-MRD assay by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) methodology. This is a 4-tube, 8-parameter assay designed to incorporate cell differentiation (CD) markers for identification of a diverse group (covering roughly 90% of patients, Cloos et al, 2018) of Leukemia Associated Immunophenotypes (LAIPs) to accurately identify both native phenotypes and phenotype shifts after drug treatment. These CD markers were selected based on extensive investigation of many markers and in line with the consensus recommendations from European Leukemia Network AML working party (Schuurhuis et al, 2018), while specimen testing and interpretation principles were performed in accordance with Cloos et al, 2018. The assay validation focused on evaluation of sensitivity (MRD cut point and LOD), precision and accuracy as key criteria for evaluating assay performance utilizing primary patient specimens and AML cell lines representing different LAIPs. The results were orthogonally verified in a blinded manner by morphologic assessment at Navigate and by the MRD-team at VUMC Amsterdam. Results: Two experimental approaches were adopted to evaluate analytical and functional sensitivity (clinical applicability) of the assay. Results indicated analytical sensitivity (LOD) as low as 0.01% LAIPs of total WBC and functional sensitivity (LOQ) of 0.1% (MRD cut point). Excellent repeatability and reproducibility (less than 20% CV) was observed across instruments, operators and independent measurements (n = 75). The frequencies of AML blasts detected by MFC and morphological examination were highly concordant (Spearman r = 0.95, P value < 0.001, n = 24). LAIPs deduced across nine patient specimens by the Navigate laboratory were independently confirmed by the MRD-team at VUMC Amsterdam. Conclusion: In summary, based on the use of consensus markers recommended by ELN for reliable capture of a broad group of LAIPs in AML patients and verification of key assay performance characteristics, we believe this comprehensive MFC based AML MRD assay is fit-for-purpose for accurately assessing measurable residual disease. Following clinical trial validation, MRD might be used as a surrogate endpoint for approval of emerging agents. Disclosures Marques Ramos: Novartis: Current Employment. Larson:BMS, Bioline, Celgene, Juno, Janssen: Research Funding; TORL Biotherapeutics: Current equity holder in private company. Sarikonda:Novartis: Current Employment.


Leukemia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Božić ◽  
Chao-Chung Kuo ◽  
Jan Hapala ◽  
Julia Franzen ◽  
Monika Eipel ◽  
...  

AbstractAssessment of measurable residual disease (MRD) upon treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains challenging. It is usually addressed by highly sensitive PCR- or sequencing-based screening of specific mutations, or by multiparametric flow cytometry. However, not all patients have suitable mutations and heterogeneity of surface markers hampers standardization in clinical routine. In this study, we propose an alternative approach to estimate MRD based on AML-associated DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns. We identified four CG dinucleotides (CpGs) that commonly reveal aberrant DNAm in AML and their combination could reliably discern healthy and AML samples. Interestingly, bisulfite amplicon sequencing demonstrated that aberrant DNAm patterns were symmetric on both alleles, indicating that there is epigenetic crosstalk between homologous chromosomes. We trained shallow-learning and deep-learning algorithms to identify anomalous DNAm patterns. The method was then tested on follow-up samples with and without MRD. Notably, even samples that were classified as MRD negative often revealed higher anomaly ratios than healthy controls, which may reflect clonal hematopoiesis. Our results demonstrate that targeted DNAm analysis facilitates reliable discrimination of malignant and healthy samples. However, since healthy samples also comprise few abnormal-classified DNAm reads the approach does not yet reliably discriminate MRD positive and negative samples.


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