ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma with DUSP22 rearrangement has distinctive disease characteristics with better progression-free survival: a LYSA study

Haematologica. 2023 Jun 1;108(6):1590-1603. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2022.281442.

Abstract

ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) comprises subgroups harboring rearrangements of DUSP22 (DUSP22- R) or TP63 (TP63-R). Two studies reported 90% and 40% 5-year overall survival (OS) rates in 21 and 12 DUSP22-R/TP63- not rearranged (NR) patients, respectively, making the prognostic impact of DUSP22-R unclear. Here, 104 newly diagnosed ALK-negative ALCL patients (including 37 from first-line clinical trials) from the LYSA TENOMIC database were analyzed by break-apart fluorescence in situ hybridization assays for DUSP22-R and TP63-R. There were 47/104 (45%) DUSP22-R and 2/93 (2%) TP63-R cases, including one DUSP22-R/TP63-R case. DUSP22-R tumors more frequently showed CD3 expression (62% vs. 35%, P=0.01), and less commonly a cytotoxic phenotype (27% vs. 82%; P<0.001). At diagnosis, DUSP22- R ALCL patients more frequently had bone involvement (32% vs. 13%, P=0.03). The patient with DUSP22-R/TP63-R ALCL had a rapidly fatal outcome. After a median follow-up of 4.9 years, 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and OS rates of 84 patients without TP63-R treated with curative-intent anthracycline-based chemotherapy were 41% and 53%, respectively. According to DUSP22 status, 5-year PFS was 57% for 39 DUSP22-R versus 26% for 45 triple-negative (DUSP22-NR/TP63-NR/ALK-negative) patients (P=0.001). The corresponding 5-year OS rates were 65% and 41%, respectively (P=0.07). In multivariate analysis, performance status and DUSP22 status significantly affected PFS, and distinguished four risk groups, with 4-year PFS and OS ranging from 17% to 73% and 21% to 77%, respectively. Performance status but not DUSP22 status influenced OS. The use of brentuximab vedotin in relapsed/refractory patients improved OS independently of DUSP22 status. Our findings support the biological and clinical distinctiveness of DUSP22- R ALK-negative ALCL. Its relevance to outcome in patients receiving frontline brentuximab vedotin remains to be determined.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase / genetics
  • Brentuximab Vedotin / therapeutic use
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic* / diagnosis
  • Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic* / drug therapy
  • Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic* / genetics
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases* / genetics

Substances

  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
  • Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase
  • Brentuximab Vedotin

Grants and funding

Funding: This work was supported by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and the Swiss National Foundation (SNF).