Analysis of patient-level data from 3 cooperative group trials confirms a survival advantage for NPM1m patients achieving MRD-negative CR after intensive induction

Döhner, Konstanze, Döhner, Hartmut, Weber, Daniela, Kapp-Schwoerer, Silke, Gilkes, Amanda, Thomas, Ian, Johnson, Sean, Potter, Nicola, Bevan, Yana, Othman, Jad, Russell, Nigel H., Röllig, Christoph, Thiede, Christian, Bornhaeuser, Martin, Oellerich, Thomas, Elder, Jenna, Carvajal, Luis A., To, Zung, DiMartino, Jorge and Dillon, Richard 2022. Analysis of patient-level data from 3 cooperative group trials confirms a survival advantage for NPM1m patients achieving MRD-negative CR after intensive induction. Blood 140 (S1) , pp. 6293-6294. 10.1182/blood-2022-159212

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Abstract

Background: NPM1 mutations (NPM1m), predominantly tetra-nucleotide insertions in exon 12, are clonal driver events in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are found exclusively in leukemic cells, making them ideal for sensitive detection of measurable residual disease (MRD) using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)- or next generation sequencing (NGS)-based methods. Over 50 peer-reviewed publications across multiple cooperative group trials have shown that NPM1m AML patients in complete remission (CR), CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi), or CR with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) have significantly better survival if they are MRD negative compared to MRD positive. Based on this body of evidence, the European LeukemiaNet recommends monitoring molecular MRD in NPM1m AML patients during treatment to help guide treatment decisions. Purpose: To provide further evidence for the value of NPM1 MRD as a surrogate endpoint for prospective, randomized trials in patients receiving novel agents in combination with intensive chemotherapy by evaluating the relationship between MRD negativity in patients with CR after 2 cycles of chemotherapy and event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in a pooled analysis of patient-level data from 3 large cooperative group trials. MRD in all 3 studies was assessed using reverse transcriptase-mediated qPCR (RT-qPCR) of NPM1m transcripts normalized to ABL transcripts. Methods: Deidentified patient data for a total of 1,128 patients who achieved CR, CRi, or CRh, and who had MRD data after 2 cycles of chemotherapy, were provided by the UK National Cancer Research Institute AML Study Group (SG) for the AML17 (N = 539), the AMLSG for the AMLSG 09-09 (N = 497), and the Study Alliance Leukemia (SAL) for the AML2003 (N = 105) trials and standardized using Standard Data Tabulation Models. Data included demographic information, disease history, induction and consolidation treatment received, morphologic response, MRD data after 2 cycles of treatment, relapse, and survival. Cutoffs for MRD negativity were defined according to the definitions used in the individual studies (Ivey A, et al. N Engl J Med. 2016; Kapp-Schwoerer S, et al. Blood. 2020; Shayegi N, et al. Blood. 2013). In addition, sensitivity analyses were conducted using a range of cutoff values. CR was defined as <5% blasts in the bone marrow (BM) with count recovery, occurring within 42 days of the start of the last induction cycle; only these patients were included in the MRD analysis. EFS and OS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and defined according to FDA criteria. Briefly, EFS was measured from day 1 of randomization to the date of treatment failure, hematologic relapse from CR or death from any cause; treatment failure was defined as not achieving CR after two cycles of chemotherapy. OS was measured from day 1 to the date of death from any cause. The absolute risk difference among MRD response status groups in EFS/OS at the 2-month, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year landmarks and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using complementary log-log transformation. Hazard ratios (HR) were fitted using a Cox regression model with EFS/OS as the dependent variable and with MRD-response status and study as independent variables. Results: Among the 515 patients who achieved a CR within 42 days at the start of chemotherapy Cycle 2, MRD negativity confers a substantial survival advantage with EFS HR (95% CI) = 1.6 (1.1-2.3) when measured in BM and 1.8 (1.4-2.4) in peripheral blood (PB) using the study-defined cutoffs for positive and negative. This advantage is also observed using cutoff definitions of MRD negativity ranging from <10 to <1,000 NPM1m/104 ABL transcripts. A survival advantage for OS was also observed with HR (95% CI) = 1.5 (1.0-2.4) and 1.7 (1.2-2.3) in BM and PB, respectively. Analysis of the predictive value of MRD negativity in the 613 patients who achieved CRi/CRh within 42 days of the start of Cycle 2 is underway. Conclusions: Analysis of pooled patient-level data confirms the survival advantage of achieving MRD-negative CR as previously reported in 3 independent, cooperative group trials using different induction regimens. The prognostic value of MRD negativity in NPM1m AML is consistent across a broad range of cutoff definitions in both BM and PB providing further evidence for the value of NPM1 MRD as a surrogate endpoint for clinical trials.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine Centre for Trials Research (CNTRR)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: Title: This article is under embargo with an end date yet to be finalised.
Publisher:	American Society of Hematology
ISSN:	0006-4971
Last Modified:	18 Nov 2022 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/154319

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