Genetic features and clinical outcomes of patients with isolated and comutated DDX41-mutated myeloid neoplasms

Blood Adv. 2022 Jan 25;6(2):528-532. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005738.

Abstract

DDX41 mutations (germline and somatic) are associated with late onset myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML). Myeloid neoplasms (MN) with germline predisposition was identified as a distinct category in the 2016 WHO classification revision, including MN with germline DDX41 mutation. We retrospectively analyzed the molecular findings and clinical characteristics of thirty-three DDX41-mutated (mDDX41) patients at our institution. We identified 14 distinct pathogenic DDX41 variants in 32 patients and 8 DDX41 variants of unknown significance (VUS) in 9 patients. Five (16%) patients had a second DDX41 somatic mutation p.R525H and 13 (40%) had at least one additional oncogenic co-mutation in other genes. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 66 years, with male predominance (72%) and the majority of patients had normal cytogenetics (91%). Two-year overall survival (OS) was 86% and 6 (21%) MDS/AML patients with relatively preserved hematopoietic function were observed without further intervention. In comparison to AML patients with prognostically more favorable subtypes [t(8;21), n=27 and inv(16), n=40], mDDX41 patients in our cohort showed similarly favorable OS. Our study highlights that mDDX41-MN patients often have an indolent course and mDDX41-AML has comparable OS to favorable-risk AML.

MeSH terms

  • DEAD-box RNA Helicases / genetics
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* / diagnosis
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* / genetics
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* / therapy
  • Male
  • Myelodysplastic Syndromes* / diagnosis
  • Myelodysplastic Syndromes* / genetics
  • Myelodysplastic Syndromes* / pathology
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders* / genetics
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • DDX41 protein, human
  • DEAD-box RNA Helicases