Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia With Concurrent CSF3R and SETBP1 Mutations: Single Colony Clonality Studies, In Vitro Sensitivity To JAK Inhibitors and Lack Of Treatment Response To Ruxolitinib

High frequency mutations in both the colony-stimulating factor 3 receptor (CSF3R) and SET binding protein-1 (SETBP1) have recently been described in World Health Organization (WHO)-defined chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) (NEJM 2013;368:1781; Leukemia. 2013. Prepublished on 2013/04/23). Response to treatment with ruxolitinib (10-15 mg twice-daily) was also described in one patient with CSF3RT618I mutation (NEJM 2013;368:1781). Primary cells from this patient were reportedly sensitive to inhibition by ruxolitinib (IC₅₀, 127 nM). In a report of 12 patients with WHO-defined CNL, CSF3RT618I was seen in 10 (83%) patients, four (40%) of whom also expressed SETBP1 mutations (Leukemia. 2013. Prepublished on 2013/04/23). In the current study, we investigated the clonal distribution of mutant CSF3R and SETBP1in a CNL patient expressing both mutations and describe our observations regarding the effect of JAK inhibitors, both in vitro and in vivo.

Under institutional review board approved protocol, peripheral blood and buccal cells were collected and density gradient centrifugation was applied to enrich for mononuclear and granulocyte cell fractions. Antibody-labeled magnetic bead separation was used to obtain CD3+ and CD34+ cell fractions. DNA sequencing was used to screen for CSF3R and SETBP1 mutations. Single colonies were obtained by plating mononuclear cells in duplicate with cytokine enriched methylcellulose with and without the addition of fedratinib (a JAK2 inhibitor) or a commercially available JAK1 inhibitor. On day 11, erythroid and granulocyte individual colonies were counted and collected at each concentration. Single colonies were screened for both SETBP1 and CSF3Rmutations.

The study patient was a 66-year-old lady with history of radiation therapy after lumpectomy for breast cancer in 1997. In October, 2012 the discovery of three synchronous lesions in the left breast necessitated mastectomy. White blood cell count (WBC) was approximately 13 x 10(9)/L at the time. Subsequently, her WBC gradually increased to 180 x 10(9)/L. Bone marrow examination on March 15, 2013 showed predominantly granulocytic proliferation with over 95% cellularity and no dysplastic features or monocytosis. Cytogenetic studies and mutation screening for JAK2V617F and BCR-ABL1were negative. A diagnosis of CNL was made and the patient was placed on hydroxyurea therapy.

The patient harbored both CSF3RT618I and SETBP1D868N mutations in granulocytes, mononuclear cells and CD34+ myeloid progenitors; neither mutation was present in buccal or CD3+ cells. Colony forming unit (CFU) assay-derived 30 single colonies (15 erythroid and 15 granulocyte) were analyzed for the presence of CSF3R and SETBP1 mutations and all (100%) harbored heterozygous SETBP1D868N and 27 (90%) heterozygous CSF3RT618I; two granulocyte colonies were wild-type and one homozygous for CSF3RT618I. Fedratinib and the JAK1 inhibitor revealed activity in suppressing colony formation by >50% at a drug concentration of ≥600 nM. Mutation analysis in post-treatment residual single colonies revealed persistence of both mutations, even under conditions of higher ambient drug concentrations. However, CSF3R unmutated colonies were more likely to emerge than SETBP1unmutated colonies after in vitro drug exposure, which resulted in the appearance of occasional colonies that were negative for both mutations.

Ruxolitinib treatment at 10 mg twice-daily was started on 6/10/13, in addition to 500 mg/day of hydroxyurea. At the time, WBC was 86.5 x 10(9)/L, Hgb 11.8 g/dL and platelets 122 x 10(9)/L. On 6/17/13, WBC decreased to 43.9 and hydroxyurea was held. On 6/25/13, WBC increased to 89.6 x 10(9)/L and ruxolitinib was increased to 15 mg twice-daily. On 7/15/13, WBC had further increased to 190 x 10(9)/L and hydroxyurea was added to the treatment regimen at 500 mg/day. On 8/2/13, WBC was recorded at 91.3 x 10(9)/L.

In a double mutated CNL patient, we found CSF3R and SETBP1 mutations to be myeloid cell-restricted and co-expressed in erythroid and granulocytic cells; the latter antedated the former in order of acquisition. In vitro JAK inhibition had non-selective activity in suppressing myeloid colony formation. Treatment of the study patient with single agent ruxolitinib was ineffective.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.