Clinical and prognostic significance of small paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clones in myelodysplastic syndrome and aplastic anemia

Bruno Fattizzo, Robin Ireland, Alan Dunlop, Deborah Yallop, Shireen Kassam, Joanna Large, Shreyans Gandhi, Petra Muus, Charles Manogaran, Katy Sanchez, Dario Consonni, Wilma Barcellini, Ghulam J. Mufti, Judith C.W. Marsh, Austin G. Kulasekararaj*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this large single-centre study, we report high prevalence (25%) of, small (<10%) and very small (<1%), paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) clones by high-sensitive cytometry among 3085 patients tested. Given PNH association with bone marrow failures, we analyzed 869 myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and 531 aplastic anemia (AA) within the cohort. PNH clones were more frequent and larger in AA vs. MDS (p = 0.04). PNH clone, irrespective of size, was a good predictor of response to immunosuppressive therapy (IST) and to stem cell transplant (HSCT) (in MDS: 84% if PNH+ vs. 44.7% if PNH−, p = 0.01 for IST, and 71% if PNH+ vs. 56.6% if PNH− for HSCT; in AA: 78 vs. 50% for IST, p < 0.0001, and 97 vs. 77%, p = 0.01 for HSCT). PNH positivity had a favorable impact on disease progression (0.6% vs. 4.9% IPSS-progression in MDS, p < 0.005; and 2.1 vs. 6.9% progression to MDS in AA, p = 0.01), leukemic evolution (6.8 vs. 12.7%, p = 0.01 in MDS), and overall survival [73% (95% CI 68–77) vs. 51% (48–54), p < 0.0001], with a relative HR for mortality of 2.37 (95% CI 1.8–3.1; p < 0.0001) in PNH negative cases, both in univariate and multivariable analysis. Our data suggest systematic PNH testing in AA/MDS, as it might allow better prediction/prognostication and consequent clinical/laboratory follow-up timing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3223-3231
Number of pages9
JournalLeukemia
Volume35
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

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