Background Updating prognostic models for multiple myeloma is important in the context of changin... more Background Updating prognostic models for multiple myeloma is important in the context of changing treatment options. Previously we have described the value of the prognostic marker SKY92, which identifies high-risk multiple myeloma patients, as well as the value of the combined SKY92-ISS marker. With the introduction of revised ISS, it is of interest to evaluate the value of the updated combination of SKY92 with R-ISS. Within the HOVON87/NMSG18 trial, stratification into 3 groups was described: high-risk: 11% SKY92 high-risk (HR) + R-ISS II-III, low-risk: 15% SKY92 standard risk (SR) + R-ISS I and intermediate risk (74%, other). The 3-year PFS rates were 54% (95%CI: 38-77%), 27% (95%CI: 21-37%) and 7% (95%CI: 1-46%) for SKY-RISS I, II and III, respectively (p < 0.001). The 3-yr OS rates for SKY-RISS I to III were 88%, 66% and 26% (p=6×10-7). Here we describe the validation of SKY92-RISS in the CoMMpass dataset. Methods SKY92 was determined using RNA-seq data available from the C...
Expression of lactase messenger (m) RNA and protein in rat small intestine during fetal and postn... more Expression of lactase messenger (m) RNA and protein in rat small intestine during fetal and postnatal development was analyzed using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Lactase mRNA was first identified at 18 days of development, and lactase protein was first detected at day 20. Lactase mRNA and protein were present along the entire villus. Lactase mRNA increased, reaching a maximum at day 20. Just before birth a decrease in lactase mRNA was observed. In newborn intestine, lactase mRNA was present only from the base of the villus up to the mid-villus region and was undetectable up to the villus tips. Lactase protein continued to be expressed along the entire villus. These data show that expression of lactase mRNA and protein do not parallel, indicating a posttranscriptional control in fetal development. Lactase gene transcription is initiated late in gestation concomitant with villus formation and is exclusively seen in villus epithelial cells. The restriction after birt...
It is increasingly recognized that the successful treatment of cancer is hampered by genetic hete... more It is increasingly recognized that the successful treatment of cancer is hampered by genetic heterogeneity of the disease and a more personalized approach is needed. Differences in the genetic makeup between tumors can result in a different response to treatment (Burrell et al., 2013). As a result, despite the existence of a wide range of efficient cancer treatments available (Block et al., 2015), many therapies only benefit a minority of the patients that receive them, while they are associated with very serious side effects. Therefore, there is a great clinical need for tools to predict at the moment of diagnosis which patient will benefit most from which treatment. This requires the discovery of markers, like gene expression signatures, that are informative about treatment response.
OBJECTIVES Typically, prognostic capability of gene expression profiling (GEP) is studied in the ... more OBJECTIVES Typically, prognostic capability of gene expression profiling (GEP) is studied in the context of clinical trials, for which 50%-80% of patients are not eligible, possibly limiting the generalizability of findings to routine practice. Here, we evaluate GEP analysis outside clinical trials, aiming to improve clinical risk assessment of multiple myeloma (MM) patients. METHODS A total of 155 bone marrow samples from MM patients were collected from which RNA was analyzed by microarray. Sixteen previously developed GEP-based markers were evaluated, combined with survival data, and studied using Cox proportional hazard regression. RESULTS Gene expression profiling-based markers SKY92 and the PR-cluster were shown to be independent prognostic factors for survival, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval of 3.6 [2.0-6.8] (P < .001) and 5.8 [2.7-12.7] (P < .01) for overall survival (OS). A multivariate model proved only SKY92 and the PR-cluster to be independent prognostic factors compared to cytogenetic high-risk patients, the International Staging System (ISS), and revised ISS. A substantial number of high-risk individuals could be further identified when SKY92 was added to the cytogenetic, ISS, or R-ISS. In the cytogenetic standard-risk group, ISS I/II, and R-ISS I/II, 13%, 23%, and 23% of patients with adverse survivals were identified. CONCLUSIONS For the first time, this study confirmed the prognostic value of GEP markers outside clinical trials. Conventional prognostic models to define high-risk MM are improved by the incorporation of GEP markers.
BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations cause approximately 30% of breast cancers within high-risk fami... more BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations cause approximately 30% of breast cancers within high-risk families. This represents 5% of total breast cancer incidence. Although BRCA1 and BRCA2 are both implicated in DNA repair and genome stability, it is unknown whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with similar or distinct diseases. In a previous study we reported that BRCA1-related breast carcinomas show a distinct genomic profile as determined by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). We now hypothesize that, if functionally equivalent, mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 would result in similar genomic profiles in tumors. Here we report the chromosomal gains and losses as measured by CGH in 25 BRCA2-associated breast tumors and compared them with our existing 36 BRCA1 and 30 control profiles. We compared all chromosomal regions and determined the regions of differential gain or loss between tumor classes and controls. BRCA2 and control tumors have very similar genomic profiles. As a consequence...
The standard prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) patients is the revised International St... more The standard prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) patients is the revised International Staging System (R-ISS). However, there is room for improvement in guiding treatment. This applies particularly to older patients, in whom the benefit/risk ratio is reduced because of comorbidities and subsequent side effects. We hypothesized that adding gene-expression data to R-ISS would generate a stronger marker. This was tested by combining R-ISS with the SKY92 classifier (SKY-RISS). The HOVON-87/NMSG-18 trial (EudraCT: 2007-004007-34) compared melphalan-prednisone-thalidomide followed by thalidomide maintenance (MPT-T) with melphalan-prednisone-lenalidomide followed by lenalidomide maintenance (MPR-R). From this trial, 168 patients with available R-ISS status and gene-expression profiles were analyzed. R-ISS stages I, II, and III were assigned to 8%, 75%, and 7% of patients, respectively (3-year overall survival [OS] rates: 80%, 65%, 33%, P = 8 × 10-3). Using the SKY92 classifier, 13%...
Background: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a rare and heterogeneous blood cancer of the plasma cells. V... more Background: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a rare and heterogeneous blood cancer of the plasma cells. Various new therapies have been introduced and are used in combination to combat the heterogeneity. Despite ongoing research and the development of innovative therapies, improvements for the fast progressing (high-risk) patients have been limited. Disease behavior and clinical outlook of patients that look very similar in the absence of clinical and cytogenetic high-risk features, vary considerably. Their fast progression could not have been foreseen at diagnosis as their initial features were uninformative. In order to identify high-risk patients for selective innovative treatment strategies in trials and clinical practice, it is important to have a conclusive assessment of the patient's risk profile at diagnosis. This assessment should include their Gene Expression Profile (GEP). Aim: To show that GEP is an important and indispensable contributor in selecting high-risk MM patients. ...
The introduction of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 1992 opened new avenues in genomic... more The introduction of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 1992 opened new avenues in genomic investigation; in particular, it advanced analysis of solid tumours, including breast cancer, because it obviated the need to culture cells before their chromosomes could be analyzed. The current generation of CGH analysis uses ordered arrays of genomic DNA sequences and is therefore referred to as array-CGH or matrix-CGH. It was introduced in 1998, and further increased the potential of CGH to provide insight into the fundamental processes of chromosomal instability and cancer. This review provides a critical evaluation of the data published on array-CGH and breast cancer, and discusses some of its expected future value and developments.
SUMMARY The clinical importance of carbamoyl phosphate synthase I (CPSI) relates to itscapacity t... more SUMMARY The clinical importance of carbamoyl phosphate synthase I (CPSI) relates to itscapacity to metabolize ammonia, because CPSI deficiencies cause lethal serum ammonialevels. Although some metabolic parameters concerning liver and intestinal CPSI have beenreported, the extent to which enterocytes contribute to ammonia conversion remains un-clear without a detailed description of its developmental and spatial expression patterns.Therefore, we determined the patterns of enterocytic CPSI mRNA and protein expression inhuman and rat intestine during embryonic and postnatal development, using in situ hy-bridization and immunohistochemistry. CPSI protein appeared during human embryogene-sis in liver at 31–35 e.d. (embryonic days) before intestine (59 e.d.), whereas in rat CPSI de-tection in intestine (at 16 e.d.) preceded liver (20 e.d.). During all stages of developmentthere was a good correlation between the expression of CPSI protein and mRNA in the in-testinal epithelium. Strikingl...
Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with a strong need for robust marke... more Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with a strong need for robust markers for prognosis. Frequently occurring chromosomal abnormalities, such as t(4;14), gain(1q), and del(17p) etc. have some prognostic power, but lack robustness across different cohorts. Alternatively, gene expression profiling (GEP) studies have developed specific high risk signatures such as the SKY92 (EMC92, Kuiper et al. Leukemia 2012), which has shown to be a robust prognostic factor across five different clinical datasets. Moreover, studies comparing prognostic markers have indicated that the SKY92 signature outperforms all other markers for identifying high risk patients, both in single and multivariate analyses. Similarly, when assessing the prognostic value of combinations of various prognostic markers, the SKY92 combined with ISS was the top performer, and also enables detection of a low risk group (Kuiper et al. ASH 2014). Here, we present a further validation of the low and hig...
Introduction Gene Expression Profiling studies have resulted in signatures capable of providing r... more Introduction Gene Expression Profiling studies have resulted in signatures capable of providing robust prognosis for Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients, such as the EMC92 [SKY92, Kuiper et al. Leukemia 2012]. Recently, data from 4720 MM patients from the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4, UAMS-TT2, UAMS-TT3, MRC-IX, APEX and IFM trials were employed to assessed the majority of currently identified prognostic markers and their combinations (GEP, FISH, and biochemistry data, [Kuiper et al ASH 2014]). The…
Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with highly variable survival. Gene... more Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with highly variable survival. Gene expression profiling (GEP) classifiers, such as the EMC-92, can consistently distinguish high risk patients from standard risk patients. Other prognostic factors for MM include the international staging system (ISS) and FISH. Here we present a comparison of prognostic factors and introduce a novel stratification based on EMC-92 and ISS. Methods Scores were calculated for the GEP classifiers EMC-92, UAMS-70, UAMS-17, UAMS-80 and MRC-IX-6 for the following five studies: HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 (n=328; GSE19784), MRC-IX (n=247; GSE15695), UAMS-TT2 (n=345; GSE2658), UAMS-TT3 (n=238; E-TABM-1138 and GSE2658) and APEX (n=264; GSE9782; for details, see Kuiper R, et al. Leukemia (2012) 26: 2406–2413). FISH data were available for the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 trial and the MRC-IX trial. ISS values were available for all datasets except UAMS-TT2. Univariate associations between markers and overall survival (OS) were investigated in a Cox regression analysis, using Bonferroni multiple testing correction. For pair wise analysis of markers, the significance in the increase of partial likelihood was calculated. In order to find the strongest combination (defined as the highest partial likelihood) of GEP-ISS, we compared these pair-wise on the same data. Training sets of classifiers were excluded for those analyses in which that specific classifier was tested. All survival models have been stratified for study. The calculations were done in R using the package survival. Results Prognostic value of FISH, GEP and serum markers was determined in relation to overall survival (Figure 1). GEP classifiers generally performed much better than FISH markers. Of 6 FISH markers with known adverse risk, del(17p), t(4;14), t(14;20) and del(13q) demonstrated a significant association only in one of two data sets with available FISH (HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4). GEP classifiers, on the other hand, are much more robust. Classifiers EMC-92, UAMS-70 and UAMS-80 significantly identify a high-risk population in all evaluated data sets, whereas the UAMS-17 and the MRC-IX-6 classifiers predict high-risk patients in three of four datasets. As expected, ISS staging demonstrated stable and significant hazard ratios in most studies (three out of four). Indeed, when evaluating a merged data set, both ISS and all evaluated GEP classifiers are strong prognostic factors independent of each other. Markers with additive value to each other include all combinations of GEP classifiers as well as the combination of GEP classifiers together with ISS. Tested in independent sets, the EMC-92 classifier combined with ISS is the best combination, as compared to other classifier-ISS combinations tested on the same independent data sets. The strongest risk stratification in 3 groups was achieved by splitting the EMC-92 standard risk patients into low risk, based on ISS stage I, and intermediate risk, based on ISS stage II and III. This stratification retains the original EMC-92 high-risk group, and is robust in all cohorts. The proportions of patients defined as low, intermediate and high risk for this combined EMC-92-ISS classifier are 31% / 47% / 22 % (HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4), 19% / 61% / 20 % (MRC-IX), 46% / 39% / 15 % (UAMS-TT3) and 32% / 55% / 13 % (APEX). Variability in low risk proportion is caused by the variable incidence of ISS stage I. Conclusions We conclude that GEP is the strongest predictor for survival in multiple myeloma and far more robust than FISH. Adding ISS to EMC-92 results in the strongest combination of any of the GEP classifier-ISS combinations. Stratification in low risk, intermediate and high risk may result in improved treatment and ultimately in longer survival of MM patients. This research was supported by the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (BioCHIP project) Disclosures: van Vliet: Skyline Diagnostics: Employment. Mulligan:Millennium Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Morgan:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Johnson and Johnson: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Goldschmidt:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Lokhorst:Genmab A/S: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Johnson-Cilag: Honoraria; Mudipharma: Honoraria. van Beers:Skyline Diagnostics: Employment. Sonneveld:Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Onyx: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Research Funding; Millenium: Research Funding; Onyx:…
Background Updating prognostic models for multiple myeloma is important in the context of changin... more Background Updating prognostic models for multiple myeloma is important in the context of changing treatment options. Previously we have described the value of the prognostic marker SKY92, which identifies high-risk multiple myeloma patients, as well as the value of the combined SKY92-ISS marker. With the introduction of revised ISS, it is of interest to evaluate the value of the updated combination of SKY92 with R-ISS. Within the HOVON87/NMSG18 trial, stratification into 3 groups was described: high-risk: 11% SKY92 high-risk (HR) + R-ISS II-III, low-risk: 15% SKY92 standard risk (SR) + R-ISS I and intermediate risk (74%, other). The 3-year PFS rates were 54% (95%CI: 38-77%), 27% (95%CI: 21-37%) and 7% (95%CI: 1-46%) for SKY-RISS I, II and III, respectively (p < 0.001). The 3-yr OS rates for SKY-RISS I to III were 88%, 66% and 26% (p=6×10-7). Here we describe the validation of SKY92-RISS in the CoMMpass dataset. Methods SKY92 was determined using RNA-seq data available from the C...
Expression of lactase messenger (m) RNA and protein in rat small intestine during fetal and postn... more Expression of lactase messenger (m) RNA and protein in rat small intestine during fetal and postnatal development was analyzed using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Lactase mRNA was first identified at 18 days of development, and lactase protein was first detected at day 20. Lactase mRNA and protein were present along the entire villus. Lactase mRNA increased, reaching a maximum at day 20. Just before birth a decrease in lactase mRNA was observed. In newborn intestine, lactase mRNA was present only from the base of the villus up to the mid-villus region and was undetectable up to the villus tips. Lactase protein continued to be expressed along the entire villus. These data show that expression of lactase mRNA and protein do not parallel, indicating a posttranscriptional control in fetal development. Lactase gene transcription is initiated late in gestation concomitant with villus formation and is exclusively seen in villus epithelial cells. The restriction after birt...
It is increasingly recognized that the successful treatment of cancer is hampered by genetic hete... more It is increasingly recognized that the successful treatment of cancer is hampered by genetic heterogeneity of the disease and a more personalized approach is needed. Differences in the genetic makeup between tumors can result in a different response to treatment (Burrell et al., 2013). As a result, despite the existence of a wide range of efficient cancer treatments available (Block et al., 2015), many therapies only benefit a minority of the patients that receive them, while they are associated with very serious side effects. Therefore, there is a great clinical need for tools to predict at the moment of diagnosis which patient will benefit most from which treatment. This requires the discovery of markers, like gene expression signatures, that are informative about treatment response.
OBJECTIVES Typically, prognostic capability of gene expression profiling (GEP) is studied in the ... more OBJECTIVES Typically, prognostic capability of gene expression profiling (GEP) is studied in the context of clinical trials, for which 50%-80% of patients are not eligible, possibly limiting the generalizability of findings to routine practice. Here, we evaluate GEP analysis outside clinical trials, aiming to improve clinical risk assessment of multiple myeloma (MM) patients. METHODS A total of 155 bone marrow samples from MM patients were collected from which RNA was analyzed by microarray. Sixteen previously developed GEP-based markers were evaluated, combined with survival data, and studied using Cox proportional hazard regression. RESULTS Gene expression profiling-based markers SKY92 and the PR-cluster were shown to be independent prognostic factors for survival, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval of 3.6 [2.0-6.8] (P < .001) and 5.8 [2.7-12.7] (P < .01) for overall survival (OS). A multivariate model proved only SKY92 and the PR-cluster to be independent prognostic factors compared to cytogenetic high-risk patients, the International Staging System (ISS), and revised ISS. A substantial number of high-risk individuals could be further identified when SKY92 was added to the cytogenetic, ISS, or R-ISS. In the cytogenetic standard-risk group, ISS I/II, and R-ISS I/II, 13%, 23%, and 23% of patients with adverse survivals were identified. CONCLUSIONS For the first time, this study confirmed the prognostic value of GEP markers outside clinical trials. Conventional prognostic models to define high-risk MM are improved by the incorporation of GEP markers.
BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations cause approximately 30% of breast cancers within high-risk fami... more BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations cause approximately 30% of breast cancers within high-risk families. This represents 5% of total breast cancer incidence. Although BRCA1 and BRCA2 are both implicated in DNA repair and genome stability, it is unknown whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with similar or distinct diseases. In a previous study we reported that BRCA1-related breast carcinomas show a distinct genomic profile as determined by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). We now hypothesize that, if functionally equivalent, mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 would result in similar genomic profiles in tumors. Here we report the chromosomal gains and losses as measured by CGH in 25 BRCA2-associated breast tumors and compared them with our existing 36 BRCA1 and 30 control profiles. We compared all chromosomal regions and determined the regions of differential gain or loss between tumor classes and controls. BRCA2 and control tumors have very similar genomic profiles. As a consequence...
The standard prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) patients is the revised International St... more The standard prognostic marker for multiple myeloma (MM) patients is the revised International Staging System (R-ISS). However, there is room for improvement in guiding treatment. This applies particularly to older patients, in whom the benefit/risk ratio is reduced because of comorbidities and subsequent side effects. We hypothesized that adding gene-expression data to R-ISS would generate a stronger marker. This was tested by combining R-ISS with the SKY92 classifier (SKY-RISS). The HOVON-87/NMSG-18 trial (EudraCT: 2007-004007-34) compared melphalan-prednisone-thalidomide followed by thalidomide maintenance (MPT-T) with melphalan-prednisone-lenalidomide followed by lenalidomide maintenance (MPR-R). From this trial, 168 patients with available R-ISS status and gene-expression profiles were analyzed. R-ISS stages I, II, and III were assigned to 8%, 75%, and 7% of patients, respectively (3-year overall survival [OS] rates: 80%, 65%, 33%, P = 8 × 10-3). Using the SKY92 classifier, 13%...
Background: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a rare and heterogeneous blood cancer of the plasma cells. V... more Background: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a rare and heterogeneous blood cancer of the plasma cells. Various new therapies have been introduced and are used in combination to combat the heterogeneity. Despite ongoing research and the development of innovative therapies, improvements for the fast progressing (high-risk) patients have been limited. Disease behavior and clinical outlook of patients that look very similar in the absence of clinical and cytogenetic high-risk features, vary considerably. Their fast progression could not have been foreseen at diagnosis as their initial features were uninformative. In order to identify high-risk patients for selective innovative treatment strategies in trials and clinical practice, it is important to have a conclusive assessment of the patient's risk profile at diagnosis. This assessment should include their Gene Expression Profile (GEP). Aim: To show that GEP is an important and indispensable contributor in selecting high-risk MM patients. ...
The introduction of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 1992 opened new avenues in genomic... more The introduction of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 1992 opened new avenues in genomic investigation; in particular, it advanced analysis of solid tumours, including breast cancer, because it obviated the need to culture cells before their chromosomes could be analyzed. The current generation of CGH analysis uses ordered arrays of genomic DNA sequences and is therefore referred to as array-CGH or matrix-CGH. It was introduced in 1998, and further increased the potential of CGH to provide insight into the fundamental processes of chromosomal instability and cancer. This review provides a critical evaluation of the data published on array-CGH and breast cancer, and discusses some of its expected future value and developments.
SUMMARY The clinical importance of carbamoyl phosphate synthase I (CPSI) relates to itscapacity t... more SUMMARY The clinical importance of carbamoyl phosphate synthase I (CPSI) relates to itscapacity to metabolize ammonia, because CPSI deficiencies cause lethal serum ammonialevels. Although some metabolic parameters concerning liver and intestinal CPSI have beenreported, the extent to which enterocytes contribute to ammonia conversion remains un-clear without a detailed description of its developmental and spatial expression patterns.Therefore, we determined the patterns of enterocytic CPSI mRNA and protein expression inhuman and rat intestine during embryonic and postnatal development, using in situ hy-bridization and immunohistochemistry. CPSI protein appeared during human embryogene-sis in liver at 31–35 e.d. (embryonic days) before intestine (59 e.d.), whereas in rat CPSI de-tection in intestine (at 16 e.d.) preceded liver (20 e.d.). During all stages of developmentthere was a good correlation between the expression of CPSI protein and mRNA in the in-testinal epithelium. Strikingl...
Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with a strong need for robust marke... more Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with a strong need for robust markers for prognosis. Frequently occurring chromosomal abnormalities, such as t(4;14), gain(1q), and del(17p) etc. have some prognostic power, but lack robustness across different cohorts. Alternatively, gene expression profiling (GEP) studies have developed specific high risk signatures such as the SKY92 (EMC92, Kuiper et al. Leukemia 2012), which has shown to be a robust prognostic factor across five different clinical datasets. Moreover, studies comparing prognostic markers have indicated that the SKY92 signature outperforms all other markers for identifying high risk patients, both in single and multivariate analyses. Similarly, when assessing the prognostic value of combinations of various prognostic markers, the SKY92 combined with ISS was the top performer, and also enables detection of a low risk group (Kuiper et al. ASH 2014). Here, we present a further validation of the low and hig...
Introduction Gene Expression Profiling studies have resulted in signatures capable of providing r... more Introduction Gene Expression Profiling studies have resulted in signatures capable of providing robust prognosis for Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients, such as the EMC92 [SKY92, Kuiper et al. Leukemia 2012]. Recently, data from 4720 MM patients from the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4, UAMS-TT2, UAMS-TT3, MRC-IX, APEX and IFM trials were employed to assessed the majority of currently identified prognostic markers and their combinations (GEP, FISH, and biochemistry data, [Kuiper et al ASH 2014]). The…
Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with highly variable survival. Gene... more Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with highly variable survival. Gene expression profiling (GEP) classifiers, such as the EMC-92, can consistently distinguish high risk patients from standard risk patients. Other prognostic factors for MM include the international staging system (ISS) and FISH. Here we present a comparison of prognostic factors and introduce a novel stratification based on EMC-92 and ISS. Methods Scores were calculated for the GEP classifiers EMC-92, UAMS-70, UAMS-17, UAMS-80 and MRC-IX-6 for the following five studies: HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 (n=328; GSE19784), MRC-IX (n=247; GSE15695), UAMS-TT2 (n=345; GSE2658), UAMS-TT3 (n=238; E-TABM-1138 and GSE2658) and APEX (n=264; GSE9782; for details, see Kuiper R, et al. Leukemia (2012) 26: 2406–2413). FISH data were available for the HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 trial and the MRC-IX trial. ISS values were available for all datasets except UAMS-TT2. Univariate associations between markers and overall survival (OS) were investigated in a Cox regression analysis, using Bonferroni multiple testing correction. For pair wise analysis of markers, the significance in the increase of partial likelihood was calculated. In order to find the strongest combination (defined as the highest partial likelihood) of GEP-ISS, we compared these pair-wise on the same data. Training sets of classifiers were excluded for those analyses in which that specific classifier was tested. All survival models have been stratified for study. The calculations were done in R using the package survival. Results Prognostic value of FISH, GEP and serum markers was determined in relation to overall survival (Figure 1). GEP classifiers generally performed much better than FISH markers. Of 6 FISH markers with known adverse risk, del(17p), t(4;14), t(14;20) and del(13q) demonstrated a significant association only in one of two data sets with available FISH (HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4). GEP classifiers, on the other hand, are much more robust. Classifiers EMC-92, UAMS-70 and UAMS-80 significantly identify a high-risk population in all evaluated data sets, whereas the UAMS-17 and the MRC-IX-6 classifiers predict high-risk patients in three of four datasets. As expected, ISS staging demonstrated stable and significant hazard ratios in most studies (three out of four). Indeed, when evaluating a merged data set, both ISS and all evaluated GEP classifiers are strong prognostic factors independent of each other. Markers with additive value to each other include all combinations of GEP classifiers as well as the combination of GEP classifiers together with ISS. Tested in independent sets, the EMC-92 classifier combined with ISS is the best combination, as compared to other classifier-ISS combinations tested on the same independent data sets. The strongest risk stratification in 3 groups was achieved by splitting the EMC-92 standard risk patients into low risk, based on ISS stage I, and intermediate risk, based on ISS stage II and III. This stratification retains the original EMC-92 high-risk group, and is robust in all cohorts. The proportions of patients defined as low, intermediate and high risk for this combined EMC-92-ISS classifier are 31% / 47% / 22 % (HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4), 19% / 61% / 20 % (MRC-IX), 46% / 39% / 15 % (UAMS-TT3) and 32% / 55% / 13 % (APEX). Variability in low risk proportion is caused by the variable incidence of ISS stage I. Conclusions We conclude that GEP is the strongest predictor for survival in multiple myeloma and far more robust than FISH. Adding ISS to EMC-92 results in the strongest combination of any of the GEP classifier-ISS combinations. Stratification in low risk, intermediate and high risk may result in improved treatment and ultimately in longer survival of MM patients. This research was supported by the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (BioCHIP project) Disclosures: van Vliet: Skyline Diagnostics: Employment. Mulligan:Millennium Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Morgan:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Johnson and Johnson: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Goldschmidt:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Lokhorst:Genmab A/S: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Johnson-Cilag: Honoraria; Mudipharma: Honoraria. van Beers:Skyline Diagnostics: Employment. Sonneveld:Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Onyx: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Research Funding; Millenium: Research Funding; Onyx:…
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Papers by Erik H Van Beers