EZH2-driven immune evasion defines high-risk pediatric AML with t(16;21) FUS::ERG gene fusion.

Abstract

The past 25 years of clinical trials have produced few improvements in pediatric AML (pAML) outcomes. This is acutely evident in patients with t(16;21)(p11;q22), yielding FUS::ERG. Patients with FUS::ERG-positive AML relapse quickly and do not respond to transplantation. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I & II receptors and costimulatory molecules are absent at diagnosis in FUS::ERG-positive AML, mirroring the phenotype and outcomes of post-transplant relapse. We show that this is driven by overexpression of EZH2, in vitro and in multiple clinical cohorts. While FUS::ERG AML is the most extreme example, this phenotype is shared by lethal CBFA2T3::GLIS2-driven AML, and patients with RUNX1::RUNX1T1 have significantly worse outcomes when EZH2 overexpression co-occurs. The FDA-approved EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat reverses this phenotype, re-establishes MHC presentation, and elicits immune effector cell-mediated elimination. EZH2 inhibitors may provide the first targeted therapeutic frontline option for AML patients with FUS::ERG, with the potential for broader frontline immunostimulatory benefits. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEHere we show an immune-evasive phenotype, present at diagnosis and characterized by elevated EZH2 levels and loss of MHC class I and II, defines a high-risk subtype of acute leukemia. Treatment with the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat and IFN-{gamma} reverses this phenotype and results in immune cell engagement and blast elimination.