Influence of BCL2L11 polymorphism on osteonecrosis during treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Osteonecrosis (ON) is corticosteroid-related complication, reported in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We have previously found that polymorphisms in BCL2L11 gene coding for pro-apoptotic Bim protein influence reduction of overall survival (OS) in a corticosteroid (CS) dose-dependent manner in childhood ALL patients. The same set of SNPs was here investigated for an association with CS-related ON assessed retrospectively in 304 children with ALL from Quebec (QcALL cohort) who received Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) ALL treatment protocols. Two-year cumulative incidence of symptomatic ON was 10.6%. Two BCL2L11 polymorphisms, the 891T>G (rs2241843) in all QcALL patients and 29201C>T (rs724710) in high-risk group were significantly associated with ON, P = 0.009 and P = 0.003, respectively. The association remained significant in multivariate model (HR_891TT = 2.4, 95% CI 1.2-4.8, P = 0.01 and HR_29201CC = 5.7, 95% CI 1.6-20.9, P = 0.008). Both polymorphisms influenced viability of dexamethasone treated lymphoblastoid cell lines (P ≤ 0.03). The 891T>G influenced Bim gamma isoform levels (0.03) and its association with ON was also confirmed in replication DFCI cohort (N = 168, P = 0.03). QcALL children had a high incidence of ON during therapy, which was highly associated with BCL2L11 polymorphisms.