Background: Mutations at arginine 132 of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) have recently been demonstrated to be recurrent gene alterations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Subsequently, this mutation was also found in a variety of other hematologic malignancies, including myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative diseases, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Only a few cases were so far identified in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To study the IDH status in ALL patients, we analyzed 54 adult and 34 pediatric ALL samples' IDH1/2 gene.
Results: Three adult cases and no pediatric case with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation were identified. No isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) mutation was identified in the total of 88 samples. The frequency of the IDH1 mutation in adult ALL was 5.5%. Among the three IDH1-mutated patients, two had normal karyotype and expressed the myeloid lineage markers. All three patients with an IDH1 mutation relapsed or died within 6 months.
Conclusions: The results suggested that the IDH1 R132 mutation might be a recurrent gene alteration in ALL; patients carrying the mutation have a trend to aberrantly express myeloid antigen and the mutation may imply a dismal outcome.