Abstract
The effect of genetic variation on second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) remains unclear. First, we identified the pathogenic germline variants in cancer-predisposing genes among 15 children with SMNs after childhood leukemia/lymphoma using whole-exome sequencing. Because the prevalence was low, we focused on the association between SMNs and NUDT15 in primary acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases. NUDT15 is one of the 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) metabolic genes, and its variants are common in East Asian individuals. The prevalence of NUDT15 hypomorphic variants was higher in patients with SMNs (n = 14; 42.9%) than in the general population in the gnomAD database (19.7%; P = .042). In the validation study with a cohort of 438 unselected patients with ALL, the cumulative incidence of SMNs was significantly higher among those with (3.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6% to 9.4%) than among those without NUDT15 variants (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.0% to 1.5%; P = .045). The 6-MP dose administered to patients with ALL with a NUDT15 variant was higher than that given to those without SMNs (P = .045). The 6-MP-related mutational signature was observed in SMN specimens after 6-MP exposure. In cells exposed to 6-MP, a higher level of 6-MP induced DNA damage in NUDT15-knockdown induced pluripotent stem cells. Our study indicates that NUDT15 variants may confer a risk of SMNs after treatment with 6-MP in patients with ALL.