Calr Is up-Regulated in Patients with Essential Thrombocythemia Independently from Calr and JAK2 Mutations

Somatic mutations in exon 9 of calreticulin (CALR) gene were recently discovered in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) lacking JAK2 and MPL mutations, and absent in patient with polycythemia vera (PV). Among patients with ET or PMF with un-mutated JAK2 or MPL, CALR mutations were detected in 67% of those with ET and 88% of those with primary PMF. Several types of insertions or deletions were identified and all resulted in a frameshift in exon 9 generating a novel C-terminal peptide in the mutant CALR protein. Over expression of the most frequent CALR deletion caused cytokine-independent growth in vitro owing to the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) by means of an unknown mechanism. Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms carrying CALR mutations present with higher platelet counts and lower haemoglobin levels than patients with mutated JAK2. Studies suggest these patients have a lower risk of thrombosis and longer overall survival than patients with mutated JAK2.

We analysed by Real Time PCR, CALR expression in peripheral blood (PB) of 38 patients affected by ET, 17 JAK2 mutated (45%), 4 CALR (10.5%) mutated, 1 MPL mutated (3%) and 14 with no apparent molecular abnormalities. These were compared with a cohort of healthy volunteers. We found a significant over expression of CALR (median 5.15; range 1.13-270.08) comparing with controls (median 0.38, range 0.18-1). CALR mRNA expression is independent from the CALR mutational status. No significant difference was found comparing CALR expression in CALR mutated (median 4.9, range 1.51-37.14) and CALR/JAK2 un-mutated patients (4.68, range 1.51-28.71). CALR up-regulation is not mutually exclusive with JAK2 mutations; no difference was seen in CALR mRNA between JAK2 mutated (median 5.09, range 1.13-270) and wild type ET patients (median 5.08, range 1.51-37). There was no significant difference when we correlated CALR expression with PLT counts, spleen size or type of cytoreductive therapy. A larger cohort of patients is required to confirm these preliminary findings.