Project description:BACKGROUND:In patients with acquired aplastic anemia, destruction of hematopoietic cells by the immune system leads to pancytopenia. Patients have a response to immunosuppressive therapy, but myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia develop in about 15% of the patients, usually many months to years after the diagnosis of aplastic anemia. METHODS:We performed next-generation sequencing and array-based karyotyping using 668 blood samples obtained from 439 patients with aplastic anemia. We analyzed serial samples obtained from 82 patients. RESULTS:Somatic mutations in myeloid cancer candidate genes were present in one third of the patients, in a limited number of genes and at low initial variant allele frequency. Clonal hematopoiesis was detected in 47% of the patients, most frequently as acquired mutations. The prevalence of the mutations increased with age, and mutations had an age-related signature. DNMT3A-mutated and ASXL1-mutated clones tended to increase in size over time; the size of BCOR- and BCORL1-mutated and PIGA-mutated clones decreased or remained stable. Mutations in PIGA and BCOR and BCORL1 correlated with a better response to immunosuppressive therapy and longer and a higher rate of overall and progression-free survival; mutations in a subgroup of genes that included DNMT3A and ASXL1 were associated with worse outcomes. However, clonal dynamics were highly variable and might not necessarily have predicted the response to therapy and long-term survival among individual patients. CONCLUSIONS:Clonal hematopoiesis was prevalent in aplastic anemia. Some mutations were related to clinical outcomes. A highly biased set of mutations is evidence of Darwinian selection in the failed bone marrow environment. The pattern of somatic clones in individual patients over time was variable and frequently unpredictable. (Funded by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and others.).
Project description:First-line therapy of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) with high-dose cyclophosphamide causes toxicity and increased short-term mortality. We investigated cyclophosphamide at a lower, more moderate dose in combination with aggressive supportive care to determine whether severe infections might be avoided and hematologic outcomes defined for this regimen. From 2010 to 2012, 22 patients received cyclophosphamide at 120 mg/kg plus cyclosporine and antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal prophylaxis. Toxicity was considerable, mainly due to prolonged absolute neutropenia, which occurred regardless of pretherapy blood counts, and persisted an average of 2 months. Granulocyte transfusions for uncontrolled infection were required in 5 patients, confirmed fungal infections were documented in 6, and 9 patients died. Nine patients (41%) responded at 6 months. After a median follow-up of 2.2 years, relapse occurred in 2 patients, and cytogenetic abnormalities (including monosomy 7) were observed in 4 patients. Although cyclophosphamide has activity in SAA, its toxicity is not justified when far less dangerous alternatives are available. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01193283.
Project description:BackgroundAlthough the therapeutic outcome of acquired aplastic anemia has improved markedly with the introduction of immunosuppressive therapy using antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine, a significant proportion of patients subsequently relapse and require second-line therapy. However, detailed analyses of relapses in aplastic anemia children are limited.Design and methodsWe previously conducted two prospective multicenter trials of immunosuppressive therapy for children with aplastic anemia: AA-92 and AA-97, which began in 1992 and 1997, respectively. In this study, we assessed the relapse rate, risk factors for relapse, and the response to second-line treatment in children with aplastic anemia treated with antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine.ResultsFrom 1992 to 2007, we treated 441 children with aplastic anemia with standard immunosuppressive therapy. Among the 264 patients who responded to immunosuppressive therapy, 42 (15.9%) relapsed. The cumulative incidence of relapse was 11.9% at 10 years. Multivariate analysis revealed that relapse risk was significantly associated with an immunosuppressive therapy regimen using danazol (relative risk, 3.15; P=0.001) and non-severe aplastic anemia (relative risk, 2.51; P=0.02). Seventeen relapsed patients received additional immunosuppressive therapy with antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine. Eight patients responded within 6 months. Seven of nine non-responders to second immunosuppressive therapy received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and five are alive. Eleven patients underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation directly and seven are alive.ConclusionsIn the present study, the cumulative incidence of relapse at 10 years was relatively low compared to that in other studies mainly involving adult patients. A multicenter prospective study is warranted to establish optimal therapy for children with aplastic anemia.
Project description:The prevalence and functional impact of somatic mutations in nonleukemic T cells is not well characterized, although clonal T-cell expansions are common. In immune-mediated aplastic anemia (AA), cytotoxic T-cell expansions are shown to participate in disease pathogenesis. We investigated the mutation profiles of T cells in AA by a custom panel of 2533 genes. We sequenced CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of 24 AA patients and compared the results to 20 healthy controls and whole-exome sequencing of 37 patients with AA. Somatic variants were common both in patients and healthy controls but enriched to AA patients' CD8+ T cells, which accumulated most mutations on JAK-STAT and MAPK pathways. Mutation burden was associated with CD8+ T-cell clonality, assessed by T-cell receptor beta sequencing. To understand the effect of mutations, we performed single-cell sequencing of AA patients carrying STAT3 or other mutations in CD8+ T cells. STAT3 mutated clone was cytotoxic, clearly distinguishable from other CD8+ T cells, and attenuated by successful immunosuppressive treatment. Our results suggest that somatic mutations in T cells are common, associate with clonality, and can alter T-cell phenotype, warranting further investigation of their role in the pathogenesis of AA.
Project description:Acquired aplastic anemia (aAA) is a nonmalignant disease caused by autoimmune destruction of early hematopoietic cells. Clonal hematopoiesis is a late complication, seen in 20-25% of older patients. We hypothesized that clonal hematopoiesis in aAA is a more general phenomenon, which can arise early in disease, even in younger patients. To evaluate clonal hematopoiesis in aAA, we used comparative whole exome sequencing of paired bone marrow and skin samples in 22 patients. We found somatic mutations in 16 patients (72.7%) with a median disease duration of 1 year; of these, 12 (66.7%) were patients with pediatric-onset aAA. Fifty-eight mutations in 51 unique genes were found primarily in pathways of immunity and transcriptional regulation. Most frequently mutated was PIGA, with seven mutations. Only two mutations were in genes recurrently mutated in myelodysplastic syndrome. Two patients had oligoclonal loss of the HLA alleles, linking immune escape to clone emergence. Two patients had activating mutations in key signaling pathways (STAT5B (p.N642H) and CAMK2G (p.T306M)). Our results suggest that clonal hematopoiesis in aAA is common, with two mechanisms emerging-immune escape and increased proliferation. Our findings expand conceptual understanding of this nonneoplastic blood disorder. Future prospective studies of clonal hematopoiesis in aAA will be critical for understanding outcomes and for designing personalized treatment strategies.
Project description:In this study, we investigated somatic mutations of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in patients with immune-mediated aplastic anemia (AA). To understand the role of mutations, we performed single-cell level analysis of 6 longitudinal samples of 2 AA patients carrying STAT3 or KRAS and other mutations in CD8+ T cells. The analysis was performed using V(D)J and 5' gene expression platform (10X Genomics). STAT3 mutated clone was clearly distinguishable from other CD8+ T cells and showed a cytotoxic phenotype, attenuated by successful immunosuppressive treatment. Our results suggest that somatic mutations in T cells can alter T cell phenotype warranting further investigation of their role in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated AA.
Project description:Predictors, genetic characteristics, and long-term outcomes of patients with SAA who clonally evolved after immunosuppressive therapy (IST) were assessed. SAA patients were treated with IST from 1989-2020. Clonal evolution was categorized as "high-risk" (overt myeloid neoplasm [meeting WHO criteria for dysplasia, MPN or acute leukemia] or isolated chromosome-7 abnormality/complex karyotype without dysplasia or overt myeloid neoplasia) or "low-risk" (non-7 or non-complex chromosome abnormalities without morphological evidence of dysplasia or myeloid neoplasia). Univariate and multivariate analysis using Fine-Gray competing risk regression model determined predictors. Long-term outcomes included relapse, overall survival (OS) and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Somatic mutations in myeloid cancer genes were assessed in evolvers and in 407 patients 6 months after IST. Of 663 SAA patients, 95 developed clonal evolution. Pre-treatment age >48 years and ANC > 0.87 × 109/L were strong predictors of high-risk evolution. OS was 37% in high-risk clonal evolution by 5 years compared to 94% in low-risk. High-risk patients who underwent HSCT had improved OS. Eltrombopag did not increase high-risk evolution. Splicing factors and RUNX1 somatic variants were detected exclusively at high-risk evolution; DNMT3A, BCOR/L1 and ASXL1 were present in both. RUNX1, splicing factors and ASXL1 somatic mutations detected at 6 months after IST predicted high-risk evolution.
Project description:Clonal hematopoiesis by hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPCs) that lack an HLA class I allele (HLA- HSPCs) is common in patients with acquired aplastic anemia (AA); however, it remains unknown whether the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) attack that allows for survival of HLA- HSPCs is directed at nonmutated HSPCs or HSPCs with somatic mutations or how escaped HLA- HSPC clones support sustained hematopoiesis. We investigated the presence of somatic mutations in HLA- granulocytes obtained from 15 AA patients in long-term remission (median, 13 years; range, 2-30 years). Targeted sequencing of HLA- granulocytes revealed somatic mutations (DNMT3A, n = 2; TET2, ZRSR2, and CBL, n = 1) in 3 elderly patients between 79 and 92 years of age, but not in 12 other patients aged 27 to 74 years (median, 51.5 years). The chronological and clonogenic analyses of the 3 cases revealed that ZRSR2 mutation in 1 case, which occurred in an HLA- HSPC with a DNMT3A mutation, was the only mutation associated with expansion of the HSPC clone. Whole-exome sequencing of the sorted HLA- granulocytes confirmed the absence of any driver mutations in 5 patients who had a particularly large loss of heterozygosity in chromosome 6p (6pLOH) clone size. Flow-fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses of sorted HLA+ and HLA- granulocytes showed no telomere attrition in HLA- granulocytes. The findings suggest that HLA- HSPC clones that escape CTL attack are essentially free from somatic mutations related to myeloid malignancies and are able to support long-term clonal hematopoiesis without developing driver mutations in AA patients unless HLA loss occurs in HSPCs with somatic mutations.
Project description:In severe aplastic anemia, approximately one-third of responders to standard horse antithymocyte globulin (h-ATG) plus cyclosporine (CsA) will relapse. Anecdotal experience has suggested that a gradual CsA taper might avoid relapse, but this practice has not been rigorously assessed prospectively. In 2003, we adopted a strategy to taper CsA beyond 6 months, with the intention to reduce hematologic relapse compared with our extensive historical experience. In total, 102 patients received h-ATG/CsA for 6 months in two sequential clinical protocols: 67 patients (66%) responded and all had the CsA dose tapered per protocol over the subsequent 18 months (total of 2 years). The rate of relapse at 5 years was 33% (95% CI 27-44%), which did not differ from our large historical relapse experience (patients treated before 2003) of 30-40%, in protocols in which CsA was simply discontinued at 6 months. However, time to relapse was prolonged by about 1 year with the longer CsA course. The rates of clonal evolution and overall survival did not differ between the two cohorts. We infer from this large prospective study that CsA taper as implemented delayed but did not prevent relapse. The kinetics of relapse with long course CsA does suggest that a lower long-term dose might be adequate to maintain patients in remission.
Project description:Quality of response to immunosuppressive therapy and long-term outcomes for pediatric severe aplastic anemia remain incompletely characterized. Contemporary evidence to inform treatment of relapsed or refractory severe aplastic anemia for pediatric patients is also limited. The clinical features and outcomes for 314 children treated from 2002 to 2014 with immunosuppressive therapy for acquired severe aplastic anemia were analyzed retrospectively from 25 institutions in the North American Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Consortium. The majority of subjects (n=264) received horse anti-thymocyte globulin (hATG) plus cyclosporine (CyA) with a median 61 months follow up. Following hATG/CyA, 71.2% (95%CI: 65.3,76.6) achieved an objective response. In contrast to adult studies, the quality of response achieved in pediatric patients was high, with 59.8% (95%CI: 53.7,65.8) complete response and 68.2% (95%CI: 62.2,73.8) achieving at least a very good partial response with a platelet count ≥50×109L. At five years post-hATG/CyA, overall survival was 93% (95%CI: 89,96), but event-free survival without subsequent treatment was only 64% (95%CI: 57,69) without a plateau. Twelve of 171 evaluable patients (7%) acquired clonal abnormalities after diagnosis after a median 25.2 months (range: 4.3-71 months) post treatment. Myelodysplastic syndrome or leukemia developed in 6 of 314 (1.9%). For relapsed/refractory disease, treatment with a hematopoietic stem cell transplant had a superior event-free survival compared to second immunosuppressive therapy treatment in a multivariate analysis (HR=0.19, 95%CI: 0.08,0.47; P=0.0003). This study highlights the need for improved therapies to achieve sustained high-quality remission for children with severe aplastic anemia.