CBFB-MYH11 fusion transcripts distinguish acute myeloid leukemias with distinct molecular landscapes and outcomes

Huang BJ, Smith JL, Wang YC, Taghizadeh K, Leonti AR, Ries RE, Liu Y, Kolekar P, Tarlock K, Gerbing R, Crowgey E, Furlan SN, Shaw TI, Hagiwara K, Wei L, Cooper TM, Gamis AS, Aplenc R, Kolb EA, Farrar JE, Triche T, Alonzo TA, Ma X, Meshinchi S. CBFB-MYH11 fusion transcripts distinguish acute myeloid leukemias with distinct molecular landscapes and outcomes. Blood Adv. 2021 Dec 14;5(23):4963-4968. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004965. PubMed PMID: 34547772; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9153007.

Although the impacts of CBFB-MYH11 transcript variants on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survival outcomes have been reported in adult patients with AML,1 this finding has not yet been tested in cohorts that include children and adolescents. Furthermore, the underlying reasons for these outcome differences have not been well studied. Therefore, we harnessed transcriptome sequencing performed on diagnostic AML samples of 1776 pediatric patients enrolled on front-line Children’s Oncology Group (COG) clinical trials. This comprehensive dataset includes 186 patients with CBFB-MYH11 fusions (supplemental Table 1; Figure 1A). Our analysis of these transcriptomes demonstrates that fusion transcript subtype predicts relapse in pediatric CBFB-MYH11 AML and deepens our understanding of how CBFB-MYH11 fusion transcripts may impact underlying leukemia biology and outcomes.