Ikaros family zinc-finger 1 mutation is an independent factor for the poor prognosis of adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can improve clinical outcomes

To investigate the prognosis of patients with adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) with Ikaros family zincfinger 1 (IKZF1) mutation and determine the role of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in improving the clinical outcome, we detected the IKZF1 mutation and BCR-ABL fusion gene at diagnosis in the bone marrow of 164 adult patients with B-ALL, and analyzed the clinical data of these patients retrospectively. Our analysis showed that grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease and IKZF1 mutation in the transplantation group and age and IKZF1 mutation in the non-transplantation group were independent factors for poor prognosis by univariate and multivariate analyses. The 3-year overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) rates were much lower in the IKZF1+/BCR-ABL+ subgroup than in the IKZF1+/BCR-ABL- and IKZF1-/BCR-ABL- subgroups in both the transplantation and non-transplantation groups. The 3-year OS and LFS rates were significantly higher in the transplantation group than in the non-transplantation group with IKZF1 mutation. The study demonstrated that IKZF1 mutation was an independent factor indicating the poor prognosis of adult B-ALL and much worse prognosis in the BCR-ABL+ subgroup in both non-transplantation and transplantation groups. However, allo-HSCT significantly improved the OS and LFS of patients and also their clinical outcomes.