Targeted Deep Sequencing of Mycosis Fungoides Reveals Intracellular Signaling Pathways Associated with Aggressiveness and Large Cell Transformation

Introduction: Large-cell transformation (LCT) of mycosis fungoides (MF) has been associated with a higher risk of relapse and progression and, consequently, restricted prognosis. Its molecular pathogenesis has not been elucidated yet.

Materials And Methods: In order to address molecular mechanisms of LCT, we performed hybrid capture panel-based sequencing of skin biopsies from 10 patients suffering from MF with LCT versus 17 patients without LCT including follow-up biopsies during clinical course, respectively (51 samples in total). The analyzed patients were attributed to three different groups based on the presence of LCT and clinical behavior.

Results: While indolent MF cases without LCT did not show pathogenic driver mutations, a high rate of oncogenic alterations was detected in patients with LCT and aggressive clinical courses. Various genes of different oncogenic signaling pathways, including the MAPK and JAK-STAT signaling pathways, as well as epigenetic modifiers were affected. A high inter-individual and distinctive intra-individual mutation diversity was observed. Oncogenic RAS mutations were exclusively detected in patients with LCT.

Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that LCT transition of MF is associated with increased frequency of somatic mutations in cancer-associated genes. In particular, the activation of RAS signaling-together with epigenetic dysregulation-may crucially contribute to the molecular pathogenesis of the LCT phenotype, thus conveying its adverse clinical behavior.