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Impact of splicing factor mutations on clinical features in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

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Abstract

Splicing factor gene mutations are found in 60–70% of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We investigated the effects of splicing factor gene mutations on the diagnosis, patient characteristics, and prognosis of MDS. A total of 106 patients with MDS were included. The percentage of patients with MDS with ring sideroblasts (14.15%) as per the 2017 WHO classification was significantly higher than that of patients with refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (2.88%) as per the 2008 WHO classification (P = 0.005). Splicing factor mutations were detected in 32 patients (13 SF3B1, 8 U2AF1, and 11 SRSF2), and the mutations were mutually exclusive. Significant differences were observed in the mean corpuscular volume, platelet count, bone marrow myeloid:erythroid ratio, and megakaryocyte count in patients with different mutations. SRSF2 mutations were associated with a high cumulative incidence of red blood cell transfusion dependence, while SF3B1 mutations were associated with a low cumulative incidence of platelet concentrate transfusion dependence. Presence of SF3B1 mutation was a significant univariate predictor of overall survival, but become nonsignificant in the multivariate model. Although many factors also could affect survival, these results suggest that splicing factor mutations contribute to distinct MDS phenotypes, including patient characteristics and clinical courses.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Makoto Saito, MSc, who helped with the statistical analysis. This study was supported in part by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan Grants 15K09460 (H.H) and 16K09831 (Y.H.), the Grant for Joint Research Project of the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo (H.H.), the Grant from Eiju Foundation (H.H.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Naoki Shingai, Yuka Harada, Hiroko Iizuka, Norio Komatsu & Hironori Harada

  2. Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuka Harada & Yosuke Ogata

  3. Department of Hematology, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Disease Center Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Noriko Doki & Kazuteru Ohashi

  4. Department of Hematology, Eiju General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Masao Hagihara

  5. Laboratory of Oncology, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan

    Hironori Harada

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  1. Naoki Shingai
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Correspondence to Hironori Harada.

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This study has been funded in part by Celgene K.K.

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Shingai, N., Harada, Y., Iizuka, H. et al. Impact of splicing factor mutations on clinical features in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Int J Hematol 108, 598–606 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-018-2551-y

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