Association of NUDT15 gene polymorphism with adverse reaction, treatment efficacy, and dose of 6-mercaptopurine in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Haematologica. 2024 Apr 1;109(4):1053-1068. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2023.282761.

Abstract

6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) serves as the backbone in the maintenance regimens of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We aimed to evaluate the influence of NUDT15 gene polymorphism on the risk of myelosupression, hepatotoxicity and interruption of 6-MP, as well as treatment efficacy and dose of 6-MP in ALL patients. A total of 24 studies with 3,374 patients were included in this meta-analysis. We found 9-fold higher risk of 6-MP induced leukopenia (odds ratio [OR] =9.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.73-21.74) and 2.5-fold higher risk of 6-MP-induced neutropenia (OR=2.52, 95% CI: 1.72-3.69) for NUDT15 c.415C>T variant carriers in the dominant model. Moreover, we found that the dose intensity of 6-MP in ALL patients with one NUDT15 c.415C>T variant alleles (CT) was 19% less than that in wild-type patients (CC) (mean differences: 19.43%, 95% CI: -25.36 to -13.51). The tolerable dose intensity of 6-MP in NUDT15 c.415C>T homozygote variant (TT) and heterozygote variant (CT) carriers was 49% and 15% less than that in wild-type patients, respectively. The NUDT15 c.415C>T variant group (CT+TT) had seven times (OR=6.98, 95% CI: 2.83-17.22) higher risk of developing 6-MP intolerance than the CC group. However, NUDT15 c.415C>T polymorphism did not appear significantly associated with hepatotoxicity, treatment interruption or relapse incidence. We concluded that NUDT15 c.415C>T was a good predictor for 6-MP-induced myelosuppression in ALL patients. The dose intensity of 6-MP in ALL patients with NUDT15 c.415C>T variants was significantly lower than that in wild-type patients. This research provided a basis for further investigation into relations between NUDT15 gene and adverse reaction, treatment efficacy and dose intensity of 6-MP.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury* / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Mercaptopurine / adverse effects
  • Neutropenia* / genetics
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* / drug therapy
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* / genetics
  • Pyrophosphatases / genetics
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Mercaptopurine
  • Pyrophosphatases

Grants and funding

Funding: This study was supported by Talent Youth Fund of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (2022QN22), Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province (2021YB04), Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (2015BS04), the Science and Technology Project of Health and Family Planning Commission of Sichuan Province (19PJ269), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82101163), Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province of China (2021YFS0387,2021YFS0388) and Clinical Research Foundation of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (2021LY23).