Abnormalities Of 12p Are Associated With High-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Children'S Oncology Group Report

Introduction Abnormalities of 12p are relatively rare in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but are of particular interest because ETV6, an ETS family transcription factor that frequently acts as a tumor suppressor , maps to 12p13. In pediatric AML the recurrent t(7;12)(q36;p13) has been recognized in addition to other heterogeneous 12p abnormalities which results in the rearrangement or deletion of ETV6 . Recently, a Medical Research Council study found that AML patients with 12p abnormalities have a poor prognosis. To date, abnormalities of 12p have been categorized as standard cytogenetic risk in Children’s Oncology Group (COG) AML trials, but there are limited data on their frequency, morphologic classification, and concomitant gene mutations or chromosome abnormalities. Objective To evaluate characteristics and prognostic significance of 12p abnormalities in AML in the COG trial AAML0531. Methods AAML0531 is a recently completed COG trial that enrolled patients between 2006 and 2010. Central review of cytogenetics was conducted on 981 of 1070 enrolled patients (non-Down syndrome) with de novo AML. Abnormalities of 12p were classified into 3 groups: 1) the t(7;12) or variants thereof; 2) abnormalities of band 12p13 other than the t(7;12) that were confirmed or highly suggestive of ETV6 rearrangement (other ETV6R); and 3) abnormalities resulting in loss of the band 12p13 (ETV6Loss). The entire group of children with 12p abnormalities ( N =32) as well as the three subgroups were compared with children ( N =949) without 12p abnormalities, with respect to demographics, frequency of gene mutation, additional cytogenetic abnormalities and survival. Results Abnormalities of 12p were identified in 32 (3.3%) of patients. 8 patients had a t(7;12) after central review (6 were missed in the local laboratory’s initial submission); 10 had otherETV6R, and 14 had ETV6Loss. The median age of the 12p group was significantly lower (median, 5.8; range, 0.2–18.2) than the non-12p group (median, 9.9; range, 0.003–29.8; P =.018). Notable was the very young age of patients with the t(7;12) (median, 0.6; range, 0.2–6.4; P =.004), with 88% 6 abnormalities, compared to 0% in the other 12p groups and 4% in the non-12p groups ( P