Abstract 7416: Prevalence of IL28B single nucleotide polymorphism Rs12979860 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) among allogeneic stem cell transplant in leukemia children
Authors: Mohamed A. Eltokhy, Israa Gamal, Omar A. Eltoukhy, Youssif Madney, Mohamed M. Farag, Tarek Mansour, Sanjay K. Srivastava, Sahar Radwan
Journal: Cancer Research (2025)

Abstract Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) recipients especially in pediatric leukemia patients. IFN-λ family: interleukin (IL)-28A, -28B, and -29 and IFN-λ4. All have antiviral properties similar to IFN-α. In vivo, IFN-λs are mostly secreted by dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages. IL-28B signals through a heterodimeric receptor consisting of IL-28R1 chains and IL-10Rβ, hence inducing an antiviral state. It has been shown that screening allo-SCT recipients for the presence of defined polymorphisms in genes involved in the regulation and activation of innate and adaptive immune responses may help to predict their individual risk of viral infection and disease. Our study aims to investigate the prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs12979860), upstream of the IL28B gene among allo-SCT recipients and to investigate whether that SNP has any effect on the incidence rate and the features of active CMV infection in cancer children receiving stem cell transplantation. Thirty-five patients undergoing allo-SCT in 57357 children’s cancer hospital were included in the study (age range, 2-20 years). A total of thirty-five whole blood samples were collected. DNA Extraction from Blood Samples was performed by using ThermoScientific GeneJet genomic DNA purification kit, IL28B SNP Analysis L28B (rs12979860) genotyping was performed by RT-qPCR (Applied Biosystems TaqMan SNP genotyping assay) using QuantStudio ViiA7 system, and routine screening of CMV was performed once a week by real-time PCR (ViroGene real-time CMV quantification kit). The prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs12979860), upstream of the IL28B gene among allo-SCT in cancer children was as follows: C/C carriers were 34.3%, C/T carriers were 42.8% and T/T carriers were 22.8%, 37.1% of patients had one or more episodes of active CMV infection during the first 100 days following allo-SCT. Patients carrying the homozygous T allele had a shorter duration of initial active CMV infection than those carrying the homozygous or heterozygous C-allele. Also, Patients carrying the homozygous T allele show a lower magnitude of CMV DNA viral load within their initial episodes of CMV infection compared to the C/C and C/T groups. Data from the current study showed a protective effect of the homozygous T allele of IL28B SNP (rs12979860) against CMV infection in cancer patients undergoing allo-SCT, T/T carriers showed a lower incidence of active CMV infection episodes occurring within 100 days after allo-SCT, those episodes were shorter in duration and lower in magnitude compared to patients carrying C/C and C/T allele. These findings emphasize the potential for personalized risk assessment and management strategies in pediatric allo-SCT recipients based on IL28B SNP profiling. Citation Format: Mohamed A. Eltokhy, Israa Gamal, Omar A. Eltoukhy, Youssif Madney, Mohamed M. Farag, Tarek Mansour, Sanjay K. Srivastava, Sahar Radwan. Prevalence of IL28B single nucleotide polymorphism Rs12979860 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) among allogeneic stem cell transplant in leukemia children [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 7416.