A National Multicenter Evaluation of the Clinical Utility of Optical Genome Mapping for Assessment of Genomic Aberrations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Detection of hallmark genomic aberrations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is essential for prognosis and patient management. Clinical practice guidelines for identifying such structural variants (SVs), established by the World Health Organization (WHO), European Leukemia Net (ELN) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), rely substantially on cytogenetic/cytogenomic techniques such as karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). However, these techniques are limited by the need for skilled personnel as well as significant time and labor, making them cost-prohibitive for some patients. Optical genome mapping (OGM) addresses these limitations and allows for the accurate identification of clinically significant SVs using a novel, high throughput, inexpensive methodology. In a single assay, OGM offers a significantly higher resolution than karyotyping with comprehensive genome-wide analysis comparable to CMA and the added unique ability to detect balanced SVs that are missed by microarray. Here, we report the performance of OGM in a cohort of 100 AML cases, which were previously characterized by karyotype alone or karyotype and FISH. CMA was performed as an additional test in some cases. OGM identified all the clinically relevant SVs and CNVs reported by these standard cytogenetic methods. Moreover, OGM identified clinically relevant SVs in 11% of cases that had been missed by the routine methods. In 24% of cases, OGM refined the underlying genomic structure reported by traditional cytogenomic testing (13%), identified additional clinically relevant variants (7%) or both (4%). Three of 48 (6.25%) cases reported with normal karyotypes were shown to have cryptic translocations involving gene fusions. Two of these cases included fusion between NSD1-NUP98 . Based on the comprehensive genomic profiling of the AML patients in this multi-institutional study, we recommend that OGM be considered as a first-line test for detection and identification of clinically relevant SVs. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement No authors or their institutions at any time received payment or services from a third party for any aspect of the submitted work. Each institution self-funded their contributions. Reagents for this study were provided by Bionano Genomics. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Augusta University-HAC # 611298; Columbia University Irving Medical Center-IRB-AAAS0105; Fred Hutch Institutional Review Board-IR File#7067; Legacy Health IRB exempt; Mayo Clinic-17-003542; Pathgroup, Western IRB exempt; Penn State College of Medicine-#2000-186 All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All the relevant data is available in the manuscript and supplementary files.