In order to confirm in patients that BIRC3 mutations confer resistance to fludarabine-based chemoimmunotherapy, a retrospective multicenter cohort of 287 untreated CLL receiving first-line FCR was analyzed by targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) of 24 recurrently mutated genes in CLL.
Recurrent mutations resulting in premature truncation prior to the ubiquitination domains of NOTCH1 in its PEST domain and BIRC3 in its RING domain can produce proteins that constitutively activate CLL.
Here we show the impact of BIRC3 expression in CLL disease progression in the absence of BIRC3 mutations and show altered canonical NF-κB target gene activation with therapeutic implications.
In addition, a variety of gene mutations with unclear prognostic value have been identified: SF3B1, ATM, and BIRC3 may describe CLL with adverse outcome, whereas NOTCH1 is predictive for resistance against CD20 antibodies.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is extremely rare in Asian countries and there has been one report on genetic changes for 5 genes (TP53, SF3B1, NOTCH1, MYD88, and BIRC3) by Sanger sequencing in Chinese CLL.
We examined the significance of IgM peaks in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), including its association with newly reported MYD88, BIRC3, NOTCH1 and SF3B1 mutations.
BIRC3 mutations (2.5%) were associated with unmutated IGHV genes (U-CLL), del(11q) and trisomy 12, whereas MYD88 mutations (2.2%) were exclusively found among M-CLL.
Thanks to these technical progresses, research on the molecular pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has also advanced at a sustained pace in recent times revealing NOTCH1, SF3B1, BIRC3, and MYD88 as the most recurrently (>5%) mutated genes that have been identified in CLL.
ATM mutation rather than BIRC3 deletion and/or mutation predicts reduced survival in 11q-deleted chronic lymphocytic leukemia: data from the UK LRF CLL4 trial.
In the last years, next generation sequencing (NGS) methods have identified a wide range of gene mutations (e.g., TP53, NOTCH1, SF3B1, and BIRC3) which have improved our knowledge about CLL development, allowing us to refine both the prognostic subgroups and better therapeutic strategies.
Screening of recurrently mutated genes in 48 additional FR-CLLs revealed that ~70% of FR-CLLs carry ≥1 mutation in genes previously associated with CLL clinical course, including TP53 (27.5%), NOTCH1 (24.1%), SF3B1 (18.9%), and BIRC3 (15.5%).
Recent studies have revealed recurrent mutations of the NOTCH1, SF3B1 and BIRC3 genes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), especially among aggressive, chemorefractory cases.