Adverse Prognostic Significance of <i>KIT</i> Mutations in Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With inv(16) and t(8;21): A Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study

Abstract

We report for the first time that mutKIT, and particularly mutKIT17, confer higher relapse risk, and both mutKIT17 and mutKIT8 appear to adversely affect OS in AML with inv(16). We also confirm the adverse impact of mutKIT on relapse risk in t(8;21) AML. We suggest that patients with core-binding factor AML should be screened for mutKIT at diagnosis for both prognostic and therapeutic purposes, given that activated KIT potentially can be targeted with novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors.