Purpose: Chromosome 17 abnormalities define a group of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) (

Nahi, H. et al. Leukemia and Lymphoma2008;49:508
) with poor outcomes. We analyzed the additional impact of chromosome 17 abnormalities (−17, −17p, −17q, der17) among patients with AML and cytogenetic abnormalities traditionally considered to be of adverse prognosis.

Patients and Methods: 1086 patients with AML [excluding inv 16, t (8;21), t (15;17), Diploid/-y abnormality] were included in this analysis. Based on cytogenetic abnormalities patients were grouped into: −5,−7,−5and −7, complex. The following parameters were included in uni and multi-variate analysis: age, performance status, WBC, hemoglobin, platelets, marrow blast percentage, bilirubin, creatinine, albumin, LDH, chromosome 17 abnormality (yes/no).

Results: Four hundred and fourteen (45%) patients achieved complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete platelet recovery (CRp) and 267 (64.5%) patients relapsed. Two hundred seventy (24.9%) patients had abnormalities of chromosome 17. Abnormalities of chromosome 17 were associated with lower CR or CRp rate (p=0.02) and higher possibility of having cytogenetic abnormality of −5 or −7 (p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that patients with abnormalities of chromosome 17 had worse overall survival (OS) compared to patients without (p= 0.003)(Fig.1). Multi-variate analysis within cytogenetic subgroups showed that chromosome 17 abnormalities were associated with worse OS in patients with chromosome 5 abnormality(p=.02) (data not shown) and in those with complex cytogenetics (p=.04)(Fig.2) and not in patients with chromosome 7 (p=.17)or combined 5 and 7 abnormalities (p=.33). Similar analysis restricted to patients achieving CR/CRp after induction therapy showed that impact of chromosome 17 abnormalities on relapse free survival (RFS) mirrored their impact on OS.

Conclusion: chromosome 17 abnormalities are associated with worse OS and RFS in patients with AML and adverse cytogenetics and have additional negative impact on the outcomes in certain well-known adverse cytogenetic subgroups.

Figure 1:

Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival by status of chromosome 17

Figure 1:

Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival by status of chromosome 17

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Figure 2:

Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival by status of chromosome 17 in subgroup of patient, complex

Figure 2:

Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival by status of chromosome 17 in subgroup of patient, complex

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Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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