Quantitative chimerism in CD3-negative mononuclear cells predicts prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Leukemia. 2020 May;34(5):1342-1353. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0624-4. Epub 2019 Nov 25.

Abstract

Relapse is a major complication of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). The objective of our study was to evaluate chimerism monitoring on the CD3-negative mononuclear cells by RQ-PCR to predict relapse of patients allografted for AML and to compare its performance with WT1 quantification. A cohort of 100 patients undergoing allogenic SCT for AML was retrospectively analyzed in a single institution. Patients without complete chimerism, defined as less than 0.01% of recipient's DNA in CD3-negative cells, had a significantly higher risk of relapse and a lower overall survival (p < 0.001). An increase in the percentage of recipient DNA in CD3-negative cells was associated with an increased risk of relapse (p < 0.001) but not with overall survival. Comparable performances between monitoring of CD3-negative cell chimerism and WT1 expression to predict relapse was observed up to more than 90 days before hematological relapse, with sensitivity of 82% and 78%, respectively, and specificity of 100% for both approaches. Quantitative specific chimerism of the CD3-negative mononuclear fraction, enriched in blastic cells, is a new and powerful tool for monitoring measurable residual disease and could be used for AML patients without available molecular markers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • CD3 Complex / metabolism*
  • Chimerism*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / mortality*
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / metabolism
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / pathology*
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / therapy
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / therapy
  • Neoplasm, Residual / metabolism
  • Neoplasm, Residual / pathology*
  • Neoplasm, Residual / therapy
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Rate
  • Transplantation, Homologous
  • WT1 Proteins / metabolism
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CD3 Complex
  • WT1 Proteins
  • WT1 protein, human