TET 2 Alterations in Myeloid Malignancies, Impact on Clinical Characteristics, Outcome, and Disease Predisposition

TET2 mutations are the most common somatic genetic lesions in myeloid neoplasms. TET2 mutant clones have been found also in healthy individuals, increase with age, and convey an increased risk for myeloid clonal diseases. The TET2 gene is very polymorphic, with hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of unknown clinical impact, but with some variants that may be pathogenically important. Similarly, somatic mutations affect all portions of the gene, and can be missense or truncating, homo-, hemi- and heterozygous. While the majority of TET2 mutations are ancestral, they can also be subclonal, implicating the clonal architecture in the consequences of TET2 lesions. This diversity may be hampering establishment of the clear prognostic impact of TET2 mutations. Taking advantage of a large cohort of patients (pts, N=4985 including 1616 MDS, 871 MDS/MPN, 1782 pAML, 304 sAML, 333 MPN, and 79 therapy-related MDS/AML/MDS-MPN) analyzed by targeted deep sequencing for TET2 and other common myeloid lesions, we examined the distribution and impact of TET2 mutations. DNA sequencing of all coding exons of TET2 and 61 other genes representing the most common somatic mutations in myeloid neoplasms. Nonsynonymous alterations not present in SNP database (dbSNP) were annotated as somatic mutations or SNPs if present in myeloid and T cells whenever available. Nonsynonymous alterations not in dbSNP or ExAC databases and not confirmed to be somatic were excluded. Overall, TET2 somatic mutations (TET2mut) were present in 920 pts (18%); 38% of MDS/MPN, 19% pAML, 16% MPN, 16% sAML, 12% MDS, and 13% of therapy related MDS/AML/MDS-MPN. Mutations included 16% missense, 33% frameshift deletions, 18% frameshift insertions, and 33% nonsense. TET2mut pts were older than those with TET2 wild type (TET2wt, 72 vs. 67 yrs, p When we next focused on germ line variants, we identified 2518 SNPs of TET2. All recurring SNPs were ranked according to the difference in their frequencies between pts and healthy controls. A large number of these SNPs were more common in our pts compared to controls, among them we identified 2 SNPs (both located in the dioxygenase domain) with a significantly higher frequency: SNP1 (OR 10.6, p In conclusion, both somatic mutations as well as germ line variants affect TET2 in myeloid neoplasia. The interaction between clonal mutations and germ line lesions may lead to gain of function and thus a growth advantage. These mechanisms are currently being explored. Disclosures Meggendorfer:MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment. Nadarajah:MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment. Sekeres:TetraLogic: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene Corporation: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees.