<p>Purpose Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO), a CD33-targeted immunoconjugate, is a re-emerging therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). CD33 single nucleotide polymorphism rs12459419 C>T in the splice enhancer region regulates the expression of an alternatively spliced CD33 isoform lacking exon2 (D2-CD33), thus eliminating the CD33 IgV domain, which is the antibody-binding site for GO, as well as diagnostic immunophenotypic panels. We aimed to determine the impact of the genotype of this splicing polymorphism in patients with AML treated with GO-containing chemotherapy. Patients and Methods CD33 splicing single nucleotide polymorphism was evaluated in newly diagnosed patients with AML randomly assigned to receive standard five-course chemotherapy alone (No-GO arm, n = 408) or chemotherapy with the addition of two doses of GO once during induction and once during intensification (GO arm, n = 408) as per the Children's Oncology Group AAML0531 trial. Results The rs12459419 genotype was CC in 415 patients (51%), CT in 316 patients (39%), and TT in 85 patients (10%), with a minor allele frequency of 30%. The T allele was significantly associated with higher levels of D2-CD33 transcript ( P < 1.0E(-6)) and with lower diagnostic leukemic cell surface CD33 intensity ( P < 1.0E(-6)). Patients with the CC genotype had significantly lower relapse risk in the GO arm than in the No-GO arm (26% v 49%; P < .001). However, in patients with the CT or TT genotype, exposure to GO did not influence relapse risk (39% v 40%; P = .85). Disease-free survival was higher in patients with the CC genotype in the GO arm than in the No-GO arm (65% v 46%, respectively; P = .004), but this benefit of GO addition was not seen in patients with the CT or TT genotype. Conclusion Our results suggest that patients with the CC genotype for rs12459419 have a substantial response to GO, making this a potential biomarker for the selection of patients with a likelihood of significant response to GO.</p>
<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>The FLT3 cell-surface receptor tyrosine kinase (CD135) is expressed in a majority of both acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the prognostic significance of CD135 expression in AML remains unclear. We therefore evaluated the association between FLT3 surface expression and disease characteristics and outcomes in pediatric patients with AML.</p>
<p><strong>EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: </strong>We analyzed FLT3 receptor expression on AML blasts by multi-dimensional flow cytometry and its association with disease characteristics, clinical outcomes, and FLT3 transcript level in 367 children with AML treated on the Children's Oncology Group trial AAML0531.</p>
<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>There was high variability in blast CD135 cell-surface expression across specimens. CD135 expression measure by flow cytometry was not correlated with FLT3 transcript expression determined by quantitative RT-PCR. Overall, CD135 expression was not significantly different for patients with FLT3/WT and those with FLT3/ITD and FLT3/ALM (p=0.25). High cell-surface CD135 expression was associated with FAB M5 subtype (p<0.001), KMT2A rearrangements (p=0.009) and inversely associated with inv(16)/t(16;16) (p< 0.001). Complete remission rate, overall survival, disease-free survival, and relapse rates were not significantly different between patients with low and high CD135 expression.</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>FLT3 cell-surface expression did not vary by FLT3 mutational status, but high FLT3 expression was strongly associated with KMT2A rearrangements. Our study found that there was no prognostic significance of FLT3 expression in pediatric AML.</p>
<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO), a calicheamicin-conjugated mAb against CD33, has been used in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We evaluated the impact of the addition of GO to standard chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) in patients with FLT3/ITD.</p>
<p><strong>EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: </strong>We analyzed children with FLT3/ITD-positive AML (n = 183) treated on two consecutive Children's Oncology Group AML trials (NCT00070174 and NCT00372593). Outcomes were assessed for FLT3/ITD patients receiving standard chemotherapy with or without GO (GO vs. No-GO, respectively), and the impact of consolidation HCT for high-risk FLT3/ITD patients [high FLT3/ITD allelic ratio (ITD-AR)].</p>
<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>For all FLT3/ITD patients, complete remission (CR) rates for the GO versus No-GO cohorts were identical (64% vs. 64%; P = 0.98). Relapse rate (RR) after initial CR was 37% for GO recipients versus 59% for No-GO recipients (P = 0.02), disease-free survival (DFS) was similar (47% vs. 41%; P = 0.45), with higher treatment-related mortality (TRM) in GO recipients (16% vs. 0%; P = 0.008). Among high-risk FLT3/ITD patients with high ITD-AR, those who received HCT in first CR with prior exposure to GO had a significant reduction in RR (15% vs. 53%; P = 0.007), with a corresponding DFS of 65% versus 40% (P = 0.08), and higher TRM (19% vs. 7%; P = 0.08).</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>CD33 targeting with HCT consolidation may be an important therapeutic strategy in high-risk FLT3/ITD AML and its efficacy and associated toxicity warrant further investigation. Clin Cancer Res; 1-7. ©2015 AACR.</p>
<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>CD33 is variably expressed on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts and is targeted by gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). GO has shown benefit in both adult and pediatric AML trials, yet limited data exist about whether GO response correlates with CD33 expression level.</p>
<p><strong>PATIENTS AND METHODS: </strong>CD33 expression levels were prospectively quantified by multidimensional flow cytometry in 825 patients enrolled in Children's Oncology Group AAML0531 and correlated with response to GO.</p>
<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Patients with low CD33 expression (lowest quartile of expression [Q1]) had no benefit with the addition of GO to conventional chemotherapy (relapse risk [RR]: GO 36% v No-GO 34%, P = .731; event-free survival [EFS]: GO 53% v No-GO 58%, P = .456). However, patients with higher CD33 expression (Q2 to Q4) had significantly reduced RR (GO 32% v No-GO 49%, P < .001) and improved EFS (GO 53% v No-GO 41%, P = .005). This differential effect was observed in all risk groups. Specifically, low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR), and high-risk (HR) patients with low CD33 expression had similar outcomes regardless of GO exposure, whereas the addition of GO to conventional chemotherapy resulted in a significant decrease in RR and disease-free survival (DFS) for patients with higher CD33 expression (LR RR, GO 13% v No-GO 35%, P = .001; LR DFS, GO 79% v No-GO 59%, P = .007; IR RR, GO 44% v No-GO 57%, P = .044; IR DFS, GO 51% v No-GO 40%, P = .078; HR RR, GO 40% v No-GO 73%, P = .016; HR DFS, GO 47% v No-GO 28%, P = .135).</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>We demonstrate that GO lacks clinical benefit in patients with low CD33 expression but significantly reduces RR and improves EFS in patients with high CD33 expression, which suggests a role for CD33-targeted therapeutics in subsets of pediatric AML.</p>