Study Showed No Genomic Differences in MM in Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Patients

An analysis of data from the CoMMpass trial revealed no obvious differences in significant measures of genomic variation known to affect prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) between Hispanic/Latin American patients and Non-Hispanic White patients.

According to a poster at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, large clinical data sets suggest that the natural history and prognosis of patients with newly diagnosed MM differs between patients of European and African ancestry. In this study, researchers examined the genomic features and outcomes of Hispanic or Latin American patients compared with non-White Hispanic counterparts.

The researchers looked at 1,154 participants in the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation CoMMpass study. Within this group, 760 patients had information on race and ethnicity (55 Hispanic/Latin American).

They looked at baseline whole exome sequencing and long insert whole genome sequencing and focused on 63 known driver mutations in MM and 39 sites of common copy number variation. There were no differences in age of onset, gender, presenting cytogenetics, International Staging System Score, or risk category identified. A similar proportion of patients underwent transplant in both groups.

According to the abstract, the sequencing showed no statistically significant differences in the presence of characteristics translocations involving IgH locus or in hyperdiploidy status. Additionally, there was no significant difference in tumor mutational burden or loss-of-heterozygosity percentage between Hispanic/Latin American patients and non-Hispanic White patients.

There was no difference in non-synonymous variations (NSV) and copy number variations at the loci of known MM driver genes, or in the proportion of patient harboring mutations in genes related to the MEK/ERK and NFƘb pathways, cell cycle regulation, and epigenetic modification.

A survival analysis showed a trend toward poorer outcomes in the Hispanic/Latin American population, but it was not significantly different.

The researchers concluded that “these results may help to inform the future large-scale studies to ascertain the impact of genomics, disease biology and socioeconomic factors on outcomes in this heterogenous patient population.”