The evolutionary landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with ibrutinib targeted therapy.

Nat Commun
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has shifted from chemo-immunotherapy to targeted agents. To define the evolutionary dynamics induced by targeted therapy in CLL, we perform serial exome and transcriptome sequencing for 61 ibrutinib-treated CLLs. Here, we report clonal shifts (change >0.1 in clonal cancer cell fraction, Q  0.1) in 31% of patients during the first year of therapy, associated with adverse outcome. We also observe transcriptional downregulation of pathways mediating energy metabolism, cell cycle, and B cell receptor signaling. Known and previously undescribed mutations in BTK and PLCG2, or uncommonly, other candidate alterations are present in seventeen subjects at the time of progression. Thus, the frequently observed clonal shifts during the early treatment period and its potential association with adverse outcome may reflect greater evolutionary capacity, heralding the emergence of drug-resistant clones.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Nat Commun
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
2185
Date Published
2017 12 19
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-017-02329-y
PubMed ID
29259203
PubMed Central ID
PMC5736707
Links
Grant list
U10 CA180861 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA182461 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL131768 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA216273 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
K01 ES025431 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
P01 CA206978 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL116452 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States