Loss of heterozygosity as a marker of homologous repair deficiency in multiple myeloma: a role for PARP inhibition?

Leukemia. 2018 Jul;32(7):1561-1566. doi: 10.1038/s41375-018-0017-0. Epub 2018 Feb 2.

Abstract

PARP inhibitors can induce synthetic lethality in tumors characterized by homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), which can be detected by evaluating genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Multiple myeloma (MM) is a genetically unstable tumor and we hypothesized that HRD-related LOH (HRD-LOH) could be detected in patient samples, supporting a potential role for PARP inhibition in MM. Using results from targeted next-generation sequencing studies (FoundationOne® Heme), we analyzed HRD-LOH in patients at all disease stages (MGUS (n = 7), smoldering MM (SMM, n = 30), newly diagnosed MM (NDMM, n = 71), treated MM (TRMM, n = 64), and relapsed MM (RLMM, n = 234)) using an algorithm to identify HRD-LOH segments. We demonstrated HRD-LOH in MM samples, increasing as disease progresses. The extent of genomic HRD-LOH correlated with high-risk disease markers. Outcome of RLMM patients, the biggest clinical group, was analyzed and patients with HRD-LOH above the third quartile (≥5% HRD-LOH) had significantly worse progression-free and overall survival than those with lower levels (p < 0.001). Mutations in key homologous recombination genes account for some, but not all, of the cases with an excess of HRD-LOH. These data support the further evaluation of PARP inhibitors in MM patients, particularly in the relapsed setting with a high unmet need for new treatments.

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor*
  • DNA Repair*
  • Homologous Recombination*
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Loss of Heterozygosity*
  • Multiple Myeloma / drug therapy
  • Multiple Myeloma / genetics*
  • Multiple Myeloma / mortality
  • Multiple Myeloma / pathology
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors