The kinetics of blast clearance are associated with copy number alterations in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

We analyzed the pattern of whole-genome copy number alterations (CNAs) and their association with the kinetics of blast clearance during the induction treatment among 195 pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) who displayed intermediate or high levels of minimal residual disease (MRD). Using unsupervised hierarchical clustering of CNAs > 5 Mbp, we dissected three clusters of leukemic samples with distinct kinetics of blast clearance [A - early slow responders (n = 105), B - patients with persistent leukemia (n = 24), C - fast responders with the low but detectable disease at the end of induction (n = 66)] that corresponded with the patients' clinical features, the microdeletion profile,the presence of gene fusions and patients survival. Low incidence of large CNAs and chromosomal numerical aberrations occurred in cluster A which included ALL samples showing recurrent microdeletions within the genes encoding transcription factors (i.e., IKZF1, PAX5, ETV6 , and ERG ), DNA repair genes ( XRCC3 and TOX ), or harboring chromothriptic pattern of CNAs. Low hyperdiploid karyotype with trisomy 8 or hypodiploidy was predominantly observed in cluster B. Whereas cluster C included almost exclusively high-hyperdiploid ALL samples with concomitant mutations in RAS pathway genes. The pattern of CNAs influences the kinetics of leukemic cell clearance and selected aberrations affecting DNA repair genes may contribute to BCP-ALL chemoresistance.

Automated summary

We analyzed the pattern of whole-genome copy number alterations (CNAs) and their association with blast clearance kinetics during induction treatment in 195 pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). Three clusters of leukemic samples with distinct blast clearance kinetics were identified, which correlated with clinical features, microdeletion profile, gene fusions, and patient survival. The pattern of CNAs influenced leukemic cell clearance kinetics, and aberrations affecting DNA repair genes may contribute to chemoresistance in BCP-ALL.