Abstract
Secondary myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia (sMDS/AML) are rare myeloid neoplasms in children/adolescents and have a dismal prognosis. The mainstay therapy is hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) but there has been little therapeutic innovation for decades and outcomes remain poor. CPX-351, a fixed 5:1 molar ratio of liposomal cytarabine/daunorubicin, has shown favorable safety and efficacy in elderly individuals with sAML and children with relapsed de novo AML, which led the FDA to recently expand the label of CPX-351 to include pediatric patients with secondary AML, however, no data has been reported in this patient group. We report the outcomes of seven young patients with newly diagnosed sMDS/AML uniformly treated with CPX-351. Five patients had previously received chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, neuroblastoma, or T-ALL; one had predisposing genomic instability disorder (Cornelia de Lange syndrome); and one presented with MDS-related AML and multi-organ failure. The median age at diagnosis of myeloid malignancy was 17 (13-23) years. We identified somatic mutations and copy-number changes across 16 leukemia driver genes in six cases (including TP53 in two), abnormal karyotypes in six cases and rearrangements involving MECOM or NIM1K-TERT in two patients. Additional genomic studies identified pathogenic germline mutations in CHEK2 and SMC3 each in a single patient . Patients received 1-3 cycles of CPX-351 (100 units/m 2 on days 1, 3, and 5) resulting in complete morphologic remission without overt toxicity or treatment-related mortality. This approach allowed for adding FLT3 inhibitor as individualized therapy in one patient. Six patients were alive and leukemia-free at 0.51-3.25 years after HCT. One patient died from disease progression before HCT. Concluding, CPX-351 is an effective and well-tolerated regimen for cytoreduction in pediatric secondary myeloid malignancies warranting further investigation
Triplett: Miltenyi: Other: Travel, meeting registration.