The <i>NUP214-ABL1</i> gene is present in ~6% of T-ALL cases, however the prevalence of <i>NUP214-ABL1</i> gene expression in ETP-ALL in particular has not yet been verified.
In conclusion, this work identifies LCK, MAD2L1, NUP155 and SMC4 as four new potential drug targets in NUP214-ABL1-positive T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
SET-NUP214-positive patients were predominantly (10 [91%] of 11) T-cell receptor (TCR)-negative and strikingly associated with TCRγδ lineage T-ALLs, as defined by expression of TCRγδ, TCRδ and/or TCRγ rearrangements but no complete TCRβ variable diversity joining rearrangement in surface CD3/TCR-negative cases.
Overall, these results indicate that, in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, PHF6 mutations are a recurrent genetic abnormality associated with mutations of NOTCH1, JAK1 and rearrangement of SET-NUP214.
The SET-NUP214 fusion gene has been rarely reported in acute myeloid leukemia, acute undifferentiated leukemia, and recurrently in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Of 141 human leukemia/lymphoma cell lines tested, only the T-ALL cell line LOUCY and the AML cell line MEGAL expressed the SET(TAF-Ibeta)-NUP214 fusion gene transcript.
Moreover, dasatinib was active in a NUP214-ABL1-positive leukemia xenograft murine model and in marrow lymphoblasts from a patient with NUP214-ABL1-positive T-ALL.
Although a number of collaborating genetic events have been identified in TLX3 rearranged T-ALL patients (NOTCH1 mutations, p15/p16 deletions, NUP214-ABL1 amplifications), further elucidation of additional genetic lesions could provide a better understanding of the pathogenesis of this specific T-ALL subtype.
Likewise, the frequency and the prognostic significance in pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia of the newly characterized NUP214-ABL1 fusion transcript is not yet clear.
We investigated 279 adult patients with T-ALL treated within the framework of the GMALL 5/93 and 6/99 therapy trials for NUP214-ABL1 by using a novel multiplex real-time, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).