The Clinical Significance of BCR-ABL1 Mutations in Patients With Philadelphia Chromosome–Positive Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Who Underwent Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Abstract

The global standard therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). One of the causes of therapeutic resistance to some TKIs corresponds to point mutations in the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a treatment option for high-risk CML, including TKI resistance. Although BCR-ABL1 point mutations comprise a major factor in the assessment of the indications for HCT, there is limited evidence for their significance in relation to transplant outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the profiles and transplant outcomes of BCR-ABL1 mutations in allografted patients with CML. The retrospective study used a nationwide registry data including adult patients with CML who underwent their first HCT between 2006 and 2016. The inclusion criterion was the evaluation of the status of the BCR-ABL1 mutation before HCT. The cohort included 315 patients with a median age of 44 years (range 16-70 years). Point mutations were detected in 152 patients, of which 101 (66%) harbored T315I mutations and 51 harbored mutations other than T315I (non-T315I). With a median follow-up period of 38 months (range 2-114 months), overall survival (OS) at 3 years was worse in the mutation group than in the no-mutation group (53% versus 71%; P=.002), which was validated by multivariate analysis (hazard ratio [HR]=1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-2.2; P=.038); this difference was remarkable in the chronic phase of CML. OS in the non-T315I group was significantly worse than that in the no-mutation group (HR=1.69; 95% CI, 1.0-2.8; P=.035). The nationwide study has successfully evaluated the BCR-ABL1 mutational profile and its outcomes in patients with CML who received HCT. The mortality risk was significantly higher in patients with the BCR-ABL1 mutation than in patients without the mutation. These findings would be useful to understand the clinical significance of various BCR-ABL1 mutations in CML and provide insight into the on mid need for treatment strategies for cases of CML with BCR-ABL1 mutations.