Chronic hepatitis C as an adverse prognostic factor in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Abstract

e18557 Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with hematologic malignancies such as B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In contrast, there is very little known about the relationship between HCV and myeloid malignancies such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To determine the effect of HCV on MDS/AML clinical outcomes we conducted a retrospective analysis in a large inner city cohort of patients (pts) Methods: 478 pts with MDS and MDS-transformed AML were identified between 1997 and 2016; 13 pts were HCV-positive (HCV+/MDS) and 465 were HCV-negative (HCV-/MDS). Demographics, hematologic parameters, cytogenetics, IPSS-R scores and molecular profiles were compared for both groups (grp). Survival (surv) analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier method Results: HCV+/MDS had significantly worse surv than HCV-/MDS pts on univariate analysis (UA) (median surv 16 vs 52 months, HR 2.8, 95% CI 1.4-5.5, p < 0.01). Difference remained strongly significant after exclusion of HIV-coinfected pts (HR 2.7, p = 0.02) and pts w/ AML on presentation (HR 3.1, p < 0.01). Cytopenias were worse in HCV+/MDS (mean Hgb level 8.2 vs 9.4 g/dl, p = 0.04; mean plt count 64 vs 139 103/µL, p = 0.03). Average IPSS-R score was higher in HCV+/MDS pts (5.5 vs 3.8, p = 0.02). IDH1 mutation was more prevalent in HCV+/MDS (25% vs 2%, p < 0.01). Differences in age between HCV+/MDS and HCV-/MDS were non-significant (mean 64 vs 69 respectively, p = 0.2). Male-to-female ratio was higher in HCV+/MDS but difference was non-significant (2.3 vs 0.9, p = 0.2). Interestingly, high HCV viral load and cirrhosis did not correlate with poor surv in the HCV+/MDS grp, suggesting deleterious effect occurs even in early stages of HCV infection. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that chronic HCV infection strongly correlates with worse surv in UA and is associated with lower blood counts and higher IPSS-R scores at the time of diagnosis of MDS. We observed a high rate of MDS refractory to standard therapies and speculate that HCV may affect biology of the disease. Larger studies are warranted to determine the effect of HCV on surv in this population and to provide a rationale for trials of anti-HCV drugs concomitantly with MDS Tx.