Comprehensive Molecular Analyses of BCR-ABL1 Negative MPN Show That PMF Is Genetically Much More Heterogeneous Than ET and PV

Introduction: In the WHO classification (2008) JAK2 and MPL mutations are major criteria for the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN): polycythemia vera (PV), primary myelofibrosis (PMF), and essential thrombocythemia (ET). Cytogenetic aberrations are rare in these entities. Although the prognostic impact of JAK2 mutations beside some other gene mutations has been shown in PMF patients, the driving events for establishing accelerated phase or blast crises are unknown. In recent years, novel molecular markers such as ASXL1, SRSF2, and CALR were identified and PMF was investigated in several studies. However, comprehensive mutational analyses of MPN entities in comparison to each other are still rare.

Aim: To identify gene mutations beyond JAK2, CALR, and MPL using a 28 gene panel, and to compare mutational data with clinical data and prognostic information in order to identify a risk profile.

Patients and Methods: We in the first step investigated 56 patients (19 ET, 18 PMF, and 19 PV; 21 females, 35 males) diagnosed by cytomorphology following WHO criteria and accompanied by genetic studies. All patients underwent mutation analyses by a 28 gene panel containing: ASXL1, BCOR, BRAF, CALR, CBL, DNMT3A, ETV6, EZH2, FLT3-TKD, GATA1, GATA2, IDH1, IDH2, JAK2, KIT, NRAS, KRAS, MPL, NPM1, PHF6, RUNX1, SETBP1, SF3B1, SRSF2, TET2, TP53, U2AF1, and WT1. The library was generated with the ThunderStorm (RainDance Technologies, Billerica, MA) and sequenced on MiSeq instruments (Illumina, San Diego, CA). BCR-ABL1 fusion transcripts were shown to be negative in all cases by PCR. Not yet described genetic variants (n=6) were excluded from statistical analyses. Cytogenetics was available in 55/56 cases and grouped in normal karyotype (n=45, 82%) or aberrant karyotype (n=10, 18%).

Results: In the total cohort JAK2 (44/56, 79%) was the most frequently mutated gene, followed by TET2 (13/56, 23%), ASXL1 (11/56, 20%), SRSF2 (7/56, 13%), and CALR (6/56, 11%). All other analyzed genes showed mutation frequencies below 10% (10 genes) or even no mutation (13 genes). Analyzing the number of mutations per patient revealed that only 4 patients showed no mutation (4/56, 7%), the great majority had 1 mutation (19/56, 34%) and 2 mutations (23/56, 41%), while 5 patients showed 3 mutations (5/56, 9%), 4 patients had 4 (4/56, 7%) and 1 patient even 5 mutations (1/56, 2%). Accordingly, the mean number of mutations per patient was 1.9. Summing up the mutations in JAK2, CALR, and MPL resulted in 52/56 (93%) patients that had a mutation in at least 1 of these genes, indicating that most of the patients had just 1 or 2 additional gene mutations to one of the 3 known key player MPN genes (mean: 1.3 additional mutations).

Cytogenetically there were no significant differences between the 3 entities in frequencies of normal (65-90%) and aberrant karyotypes (11-35%), although in the PMF cohort there were more aberrant karyotypes (6/17, 35%) in comparison to ET and PV (for each 2/19, 11%).

Addressing the mutation patterns of these 3 MPN entities revealed similar frequencies of TET2 mutations. In contrast, as expected JAK2 was more often mutated in PV (18/19, 95%) compared to ET (12/19, 63%, p=0.042) and PMF (14/18, 78%) and CALR was more often mutated in ET (5/19, 26%) in comparison to PMF (1/18, 6%) and PV (0/19, 0%, p=0.046). In PMF ASXL1 (8/18, 44%) and SRSF2 (6/18, 33%) were more often mutated compared to ET (1/19, 5%, p=0.008; 1/19, 5%, p=0.042) and PV (2/19, 11%; p=0.029; 0/19, 0%; p=0.008), respectively.

Investigating the numbers of mutated genes per patient resulted in a significantly different distribution within MPN entities: in the ET and PV cohorts patients carried mostly 1 or 2 mutations (36/38, 95%; mean: 1.5), while in PMF 9/18 (50%) patients carried >2 mutations (mean: 2.5; p=0.045). Looking at the affected genes besides JAK2 and CALR showed that in ET and PV 4 more genes were affected, while in PMF 11 different additional genes showed mutations, indicating that PMF is genetically much more heterogeneous than ET or PV. This nicely matches to the finding that PMF is also marked by the highest cytogenetic aberration rate of these 3 BCR-ABL1 negative MPN (24-42%).

Conclusions: 1)JAK2 is the most and TET2 the second most frequently mutated gene in BCR-ABL1 negative MPN. 2) Most patients carry only 1 or 2 gene mutations. 3) However, PMF patients are genetically much more heterogeneous than ET and PV patients regarding both cytogenetic and molecular alterations.