Myeloid malignancies with isolated 7q deletion can be further characterized by their accompanying molecular mutations

Deletions in the long arm of chromosome 7 (del(7q)) are recurrent cytogenetic aberrations in myeloid neoplasms. They occur either isolated or as part of a complex karyotype and are associated with unfavorable prognosis in certain disease entities. We performed detailed cytogenetic analysis, molecular analysis, and array comparative genomic hybridization in a cohort of 81 patients with a variety of myeloid malignancies and del(7q) as sole chromosomal alteration. In 70% (57/81) of patients, we identified a commonly deleted region (size: 18 Mb) involving the genomic region 101 912.442 (7q22.1)-119 608.824 (7q31.31). Furthermore, in 80 patients, we analyzed 17 genes commonly mutated in myeloid neoplasms and identified high mutation frequencies in ASXL1 34% (27/80), TET2 33% (26/80), RUNX1 25% (20/80), DNMT3A 25% (20/80), while TP53 was rarely affected (5%, 4/80). ASXL1 and TET2 showed similar mutation frequencies across all analyzed entities while RUNX1, CBL, and JAK2 were specifically mutated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and myeloproliferative neoplasms, respectively. We detected a significantly higher frequency of RUNX1 (42% vs 13%, P = .0001) and ASXL1 (32% vs 14%, P = .008) mutations in AML patients with del(7q) compared to other AML patients in the Medical Research Council unfavorable risk group (n = 464), indicating a cooperative leukemogenic potential. Our data provide further insight into the pathomechanism of this cytogenetic subgroup.