Identification of acquired copy number alterations and uniparental disomies in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia using high-resolution single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis

Leukemia. 2010 Feb;24(2):438-49. doi: 10.1038/leu.2009.263. Epub 2009 Dec 17.

Abstract

Recent advances in genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses have revealed previously unrecognized microdeletions and uniparental disomy (UPD) in a broad spectrum of human cancers. As acute myeloid leukemia (AML) represents a genetically heterogeneous disease, this technology might prove helpful, especially for cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML) cases. Thus, we performed high-resolution SNP analyses in 157 adult cases of CN-AML. Regions of acquired UPDs were identified in 12% of cases and in the most frequently affected chromosomes, 6p, 11p and 13q. Notably, acquired UPD was invariably associated with mutations in nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) or CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (CEBPA) that impair hematopoietic differentiation (P=0.008), suggesting that UPDs may preferentially target genes that are essential for proliferation and survival of hematopoietic progenitors. Acquired copy number alterations (CNAs) were detected in 49% of cases with losses found in two or more cases affecting, for example, chromosome bands 3p13-p14.1 and 12p13. Furthermore, we identified two cases with a cryptic t(6;11) as well as several non-recurrent aberrations pointing to leukemia-relevant regions. With regard to clinical outcome, there seemed to be an association between UPD 11p and UPD 13q cases with overall survival. These data show the potential of high-resolution SNP analysis for identifying genomic regions of potential pathogenic and clinical relevance in AML.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11 / genetics
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 / genetics
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6 / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Dosage*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Karyotyping
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / genetics*
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nucleophosmin
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*
  • Uniparental Disomy / genetics*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins
  • CEBPA protein, human
  • NPM1 protein, human
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Nucleophosmin