Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood malignancy that develops in the bone marrow due to uncontrolled cell proliferation and undifferentiating blood cells. This fast-progressing cancer has a higher percentage of relapses due to clonal evolution and the re-emergence of resistant...

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Main Authors: Wardah Qureshi, Aisha Jamal, Atia Gohar, Marium Imran Mansuri, Muhammad Irfan, Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Shakeel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-03-01
Series:Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00688-6
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author Wardah Qureshi
Aisha Jamal
Atia Gohar
Marium Imran Mansuri
Muhammad Irfan
Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan
Muhammad Shakeel
author_facet Wardah Qureshi
Aisha Jamal
Atia Gohar
Marium Imran Mansuri
Muhammad Irfan
Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan
Muhammad Shakeel
author_sort Wardah Qureshi
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood malignancy that develops in the bone marrow due to uncontrolled cell proliferation and undifferentiating blood cells. This fast-progressing cancer has a higher percentage of relapses due to clonal evolution and the re-emergence of resistant clones. Identification of relapse associated genetic elements in AML remains a challenge. In this prospective study, whole-exome sequencing was performed in newly diagnosed cytogenetically normal AML. The patients treated with 7 + 3 induction or a hypomethylator were followed up until a response (remission, refractory, or relapse, etc.) was observed. The exome data was analyzed using the standard bioinformatics pipeline of GATK best practices and subsequent annotation and filtration with disease specific databases (ANNOVAR, ClinVar) to assess the impact of somatic as well as germline variants on the disease outcome. Results The AML who received 7 + 3 induction, 3 were on complete remission, 1 relapsed, while 3 were refractory to disease. Those receiving the hypomethylator regime, 3 went to remission, 2 persistence of the disease, and 1 relapsed after 6 cycles of chemotherapy. In genomic analysis, there were, on average, 32.21 rare germline and 5.64 rare somatic variants per patient. The tumor mutation burden (TMB) was significantly higher in the AML who relapsed (or refractory) compared with the remission AML (Wilcoxon rank sum p < 0.05). The mutational landscape indicated mutations in FER1L6, NRAP, DOCK10, MDN1, NBEAL2, and NCOR2 genes in relapsed AML only. Further, the COSMIC somatic signatures 8, 14, 25 were only observed in the relapse AML, whereas COSMIC somatic signatures 21, 23, 24, 30 were detected in the remission AML. Furthermore, the contribution of COSMIC signature 13 was significantly higher in the relapse AML compared with the remission AML (p < 0.05). Conclusion Collectively, this study determined genetic elements distinctive to relapsed AML. Although limited number of samples were sequenced, yet these findings can contribute to the prognostic assessment of cytogenetically normal AML.
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spelling doaj-art-6ac7ef9a7fea49be89f2dbe969aa94c72025-08-20T02:10:23ZengSpringerOpenEgyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics2090-24412025-03-0126111010.1186/s43042-025-00688-6Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemiaWardah Qureshi0Aisha Jamal1Atia Gohar2Marium Imran Mansuri3Muhammad Irfan4Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan5Muhammad Shakeel6Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, ICCBS, University of KarachiNational Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplant (NIBD)Dow Institute for Advanced Biological and Animal Research, Dow University of Health Sciences (Ojha Campus)Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, ICCBS, University of KarachiJamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, ICCBS, University of KarachiJamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, ICCBS, University of KarachiJamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, ICCBS, University of KarachiAbstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood malignancy that develops in the bone marrow due to uncontrolled cell proliferation and undifferentiating blood cells. This fast-progressing cancer has a higher percentage of relapses due to clonal evolution and the re-emergence of resistant clones. Identification of relapse associated genetic elements in AML remains a challenge. In this prospective study, whole-exome sequencing was performed in newly diagnosed cytogenetically normal AML. The patients treated with 7 + 3 induction or a hypomethylator were followed up until a response (remission, refractory, or relapse, etc.) was observed. The exome data was analyzed using the standard bioinformatics pipeline of GATK best practices and subsequent annotation and filtration with disease specific databases (ANNOVAR, ClinVar) to assess the impact of somatic as well as germline variants on the disease outcome. Results The AML who received 7 + 3 induction, 3 were on complete remission, 1 relapsed, while 3 were refractory to disease. Those receiving the hypomethylator regime, 3 went to remission, 2 persistence of the disease, and 1 relapsed after 6 cycles of chemotherapy. In genomic analysis, there were, on average, 32.21 rare germline and 5.64 rare somatic variants per patient. The tumor mutation burden (TMB) was significantly higher in the AML who relapsed (or refractory) compared with the remission AML (Wilcoxon rank sum p < 0.05). The mutational landscape indicated mutations in FER1L6, NRAP, DOCK10, MDN1, NBEAL2, and NCOR2 genes in relapsed AML only. Further, the COSMIC somatic signatures 8, 14, 25 were only observed in the relapse AML, whereas COSMIC somatic signatures 21, 23, 24, 30 were detected in the remission AML. Furthermore, the contribution of COSMIC signature 13 was significantly higher in the relapse AML compared with the remission AML (p < 0.05). Conclusion Collectively, this study determined genetic elements distinctive to relapsed AML. Although limited number of samples were sequenced, yet these findings can contribute to the prognostic assessment of cytogenetically normal AML.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00688-6Acute myeloid leukemiaMutational landscapeSomatic signaturesRelapsed AML
spellingShingle Wardah Qureshi
Aisha Jamal
Atia Gohar
Marium Imran Mansuri
Muhammad Irfan
Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan
Muhammad Shakeel
Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics
Acute myeloid leukemia
Mutational landscape
Somatic signatures
Relapsed AML
title Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
title_full Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
title_fullStr Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
title_full_unstemmed Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
title_short Relapse-specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
title_sort relapse specific genetic patterns in the exomic mutational landscape in acute myeloid leukemia
topic Acute myeloid leukemia
Mutational landscape
Somatic signatures
Relapsed AML
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00688-6
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