Prevalence and Clinical Features of Non-Myeloid Neoplasms in Patients with DDX41 Mutant Germline Predisposition Syndrome
Authors: Kusne Yael , Badar Talha , Lasho Terra L. , Marando Ludovica , Mangaonkar Abhishek A. , Finke Christy , Foran James M. , Al-Kali Aref , Alkhateeb Hassan B , Gangat Naseema , Palmer Jeanne , Viswanatha David , Litzow Mark R. , Chlon Timothy , Ferrer Alejandro , Patnaik Mrinal M. 
Published: December 2024

DDX41 MT Germline Predisposition Syndrome (GPS) is the most common adult GPS for myeloid neoplasms (MN), including MDS and AML. Although there have been reports of non-myeloid neoplasms, particularly lymphoid malignancies, in DDX41MT-GPS, these occurrences are infrequent and poorly characterized. We carried out this study in a large cohort of DDX41MT-GPS patients to address this deficiency.

Following IRB approval, we retrospectively analyzed our database of 174 patients with DDX41MT-GPS to determine the rates of non-myeloid malignancies. Our previous data revealed that certain DDX41MT genotypes classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS) exhibit a similar phenotypic spectrum to those classified as pathogenic (Badar et al Hematologica). Consequently, we included all these variants in our analysis.

The median age of the cohort was 68.6 yrs (range, 13-4-93.4); 66% (n=114) male, 93% (n=162) Caucasian, with a median follow-up of 1.4 yrs (range, 0.03-5.6) from DDX41MT-GPS detection. The cohort included 34 (19.5%) asymptomatic carriers, 17 (9.8%) with clonal hematopoiesis (CH) or clonal cytopenias (CCUS), and 123 (70.7%) with MN. Eighteen (10%) patients had a lymphoid neoplasm (78% male, 100% Caucasian), with a median age at lymphoid neoplasm diagnosis of 67.7 yrs (range, 12.2-85.9). The most common lymphoid neoplasm was chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) seen in 2.3% (n=), followed by follicular lymphoma (FL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) present in 1.7% each (n=3; 1 T-ALL and 2 B-ALL: 1 Ph+ and1 Ph-like). Additionally, there was 1 patient each with monoclonal B cell lymphocytosis (MBL), Waldenstroms macroglobulinemia , peripheral T cell lymphoma , large granular lymphocytic leukemia, and marginal zone lymphoma. Germline genotypes were classified as pathogenic in 50% (n=9, D140Gfs*2 x2, K331del, M1I x3, M316Dfs*31, P258L, Y340N) and VUS in 50% (n=9, E426K, E69D, G313D, K184R, P206A, P70S, Q246E, R164W, c.572-3T&gt;C. Among these 18, 9 (50%) patients had co-existing myeloid disorders (CCUS x3, MDS x5, AML x1), and 5 (27.8%) patients were later diagnosed with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (TMN) at a median of 5.9 yrs (range,1.6-38.7) after lymphoid neoplasm diagnosis and treatment.

Seven (4%) patients had plasma cell dyscrasias (PCD; 3 with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance(MGUS) and 4 with multiple myeloma (MM)); 57% (n=4) were male, with a median age of 61.3 yrs (range, 41.4-83.8) at PCD diagnosis. Subtypes of MGUS included IgG Kappa (n=2) and IgG Lambda (n=1), subtypes of MM included IgG Kappa (n=2), IgA Kappa (n=1), and Kappa light chain only (n=1). DDX41MT-GPS genotypes were pathogenic in 28.6% (n=2, G67Vfs*13, G313S) and VUS in 71.4% (n=5, A555T, R164W, Q246E x2, M307T). All patients with MM (n=4) received an autologous stem cell transplant, with 3 (75%) being subsequently diagnosed with a t-MN; median 3.6yrs after PCD diagnosis (range, 3.2-12.3).

Seventeen percent (n=31) had visceral malignancies; 2.8% (n=5) having &gt;1malignancy, 61% (n=19) male, 93.5% (n=29) Caucasian and 6.5% (n=2) Hispanic. Prostate cancer was most common (n=8, 4.6%), followed by breast (n=7, 4.0%), colon (n=5, 2.9%), squamous cell carcinoma (n=4, 2.3%, 3 of the head/neck and 1 of the leg), bladder (n=4, 2.3%), testicular (n=3, 1.7%), gynecologic (n=3, 1.7%), lung (n=2, 1.2%), thyroid (n=1, 0.6%) and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET, n=1, 0.6%), respectively. The median age at first solid tumor diagnosis was 62.4 yrs (range, 10.9-81.9). DDX41MT-GPS was pathogenic in 64.5% (n=20, D140Gfs*2 x3, E113Kfs*14, G67Vfs*13, I396T, L283Cfs*21, M1I x4, M316Dfs*31 x2, p.M1?, P258L, Q368*, Q41* x2, R159*, R311*) and VUS in 35.5% (n=11, D30Y, H203Y, I215L, I337V, M155I, p.?, S289L, T13I, V318G, A555T). Of the 31 patients with visceral malignancies , 51.6% (n=16) were diagnosed with t-MN at a median of 4.9 yrs (range, 1.1-34.3) after malignancy diagnosis.

While DDX41MT-GPS are clearly associated with an increased risk of myeloid neoplasms, we demonstrate potential associations with other neoplasms, especially lymphoproliferative disorders (10%). We for the first-time report associations with PCD (4%) and visceral malignancies (17%) and also highlight a worrisome trend for t-MN in DDX41MT-GPS treated with genotoxic agents. Given limitations of a retrospective analysis, this study underscores the need for a comprehensive natural history study in patients with DDX41MT-GPS .