Evaluation of FTO polymorphism in 6-mercaptopurine related intolerance in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Purpose Thiopurine drugs like 6-Mercaptopurine (6MP) are the cornerstone of maintenance therapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A recently described variant in alpha-ketoglutarate dependent dioxygenase ( FTO ) gene has been reported to play an important role in thiopurine induced myelosuppression. Methods In this study, we genotyped a coding variant (p.Ala134Thr, rs79206939) and an intronic variant (rs16952570) of FTO in 174 Indian children (age ≤ 12 years) with ALL on maintenance phase of chemotherapy and examined correlation with the risk of thiopurine induced myelosuppression and hepatic toxicity. Results The prevalence of FTO- rs16952570 polymorphism was 18.4% (32/174) with 142 (82%) cases having TT genotype, 26 (15%) cases with TC genotype and 6 (3.4%) cases having CC genotype. FTO- rs79206939 was absent and non-polymorphic in our study group. The mean dose of 6-MP during 36 weeks of maintenance of TT, TC and CC carriers of FTO -rs16952570 was 53.7, 53.6 and 54.1 mg/m 2 /day. Number of patients tolerating starting dose of 60 mg/m 2 /day was significantly higher in CC (50%) than TT/TC (14%) genotype carrying cases ( p = 0.014). However, no statistical significance was observed for total leukocyte count (TLC), absolute neutrophil count (ANC) as well as for platelets counts in patients harboring FTO -rs16952570 TT/TC/CC genotype at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 36 weeks after start of thiopurine therapy. Further, no significant correlation was noted between number of weeks of chemotherapy interruptions or episodes of febrile neutropenia and no evidence of hepatotoxicity was found with the genotype studied. Conclusion Polymorphism in FTO -rs16952570 did not show any correlation with thiopurine related toxicity in ALL patients.