Genetic Landscape of Childhood B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in Malaysia

Authors

  • Nor Soleha Mohd Dali Haematology Unit, Cancer Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Block C7, Level 4, National Institutes of Health, Section U13, Setia Alam, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor
  • Nursaedah Abdullah Aziz
  • Bashton Matthew Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
  • Amanda Anne Lavinya Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Kota Ilmu, Educity@Iskandar, 79200 Iskandar Puteri, Johor
  • Jia Yee Ho Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Kota Ilmu, Educity@Iskandar, 79200 Iskandar Puteri, Johor
  • Dominic Shuen Wei Kay Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Kota Ilmu, Educity@Iskandar, 79200 Iskandar Puteri, Johor
  • Yuslina Mat Yusoff
  • Ezalia Esa
  • Zubaidah Zakaria
  • Christine J. Harrison Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
  • Jeyanthy Eswaran Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Keywords:

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, Microarray, Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, Genomics

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the major causes of death in children. In Malaysia, precursor B-cell leukaemia (BCP-ALL) is the commonest cancer in children and the sixth most frequent cancer. Acquired chromosomal abnormalities are the hallmark of ALL, which define biologically distinct subtypes of the disease. The strong association of many chromosomal abnormalities with prognosis has been utilised in risk stratification for treatment in a large number of protocols worldwide. Here, genetic characterisation of the Malaysian BCP-ALL cohort was performed to understand the prevalence of treatment stratification markers and contribute to the risk stratification model development. In a cohort of 56 BCP-ALL patients, chromosomal translocations and copy number variations (CNVs) were determined using various techniques, including a multiplex reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction assay (HemaVision), high-resolution SNP6.0 microarray, and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Primary abnormalities detected in this cohort included BCR-ABL1 (5%), ETV6-RUNX1 (9%), FUS-ERG (4%), TCF3-PBX1 (9%), and high hyperdiploid (7%). SNP6.0 microarray data analysis revealed gene focal deletions in EBF1, CDKN2A/B, PAX5, ETV6 and RB1, whereas focal amplifications were seen in BTG1, SHOX-AREA-DOWN, CRLF2, CSF2RA, IL3RA, P2RY8, POR and COL5A1. Most CNVs were further validated using MLPA, however several discrepancies were observed between the two techniques due to differences in probe coverage and the sensitivity. In summary, the data is the first to genetically characterise the primary and secondary copy number abnormalities in a cohort of Malaysian paediatric BCP-ALL indicating the necessity for further refinement of the national diagnostic protocol.

References

Anastasios Mitrakos, Antonis Kattamis, Katerina Katsibardi, Stefanos Papadhimitriou, Sophia Kitsiou-Tzeli, Emmanuel Kanavakis, Maria Tzetis (2019) High resolution Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA) enhances the genetic profile of pediatric B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia patients. Leukemia Research, 83, 106177. DOI: 10.1016/j.leukres.2019.106177

Schwab, C., & Harrison, C. J. (2018). Advances in B-cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Genomics. HemaSphere, 2(4), e53. DOI: 10.1097/HS9.0000000000000053

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Published

2022-01-06

Issue

Section

Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences