KMT2A-MAML2 rearrangement emerged and regressed during neuroblastoma therapy without leukemia after 12.8-year follow-up.

Overview

Twelvepatients without therapy-related leukemia were studied after completing TOP2 poison chemotherapy in a high-risk neuroblastoma regimen. One patient harbored an inv(11) that was a KMT2A rearrangement. The KMT2A-MAML2 transcript was expressed at low level. The patient was prospectively followed. The inv(11) was undetectable in ensuing samples. Leukemia never developed after a 12.8-year follow-up period. Enriched etoposide-induced TOP2A cleavage in the relevant MAML2 genomic region supports a TOP2A DNA damage mechanism. After completing TOP2 poison chemotherapies, covert KMT2A-R clones may occur in a small minority of patients; however, not all KMT2A rearrangements herald a therapy-related leukemia diagnosis.