Relapsed and refractory (R/r) disease in paediatric acute leukaemia remains the first reason for treatment failure. Advances in molecular characterisation can ameliorate the identification of genetic biomarkers treatment strategies for this disease, especially in high-risk patients. The purpose of this study was to analyse a cohort of R/r children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic (ALL) or myeloid (AML) leukaemia in order to offer them a targeted treatment if available. Advanced molecular characterisation of 26 patients diagnosed with R/r disease was performed using NGS, MLPA, and RT-qPCR. The clinical relevance of the identified alterations was discussed in a multidisciplinary molecular tumour board (MTB). A total of 18 (69.2%) patients were diagnosed with B-ALL, 4 (15.4%) with T-ALL, 3 (11.5%) with AML and 1 patient (3.8%) with a mixed-phenotype acute leukaemia (MPL). Most of the patients had relapsed disease (88%) at the time of sample collection. A total of 17 patients (65.4%) were found to be carriers of a druggable molecular alteration, 8 of whom (47%) received targeted therapy, 7 (87.5%) of them in addition to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Treatment response and disease control were achieved in 4 patients (50%). In conclusion, advanced molecular characterisation and MTB can improve treatment and outcome in paediatric R/r acute leukaemias.
Keywords: NGS; advanced molecular characterisation; genetics; paediatric acute leukaemia; personalised medicine; refractory; relapsed.