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MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome)FISiM-NGS-MDSNCT04212390

Personalized Medicine Program on Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Characterization of the Patient's Genome for Clinical Decision Making and Systematic Collection of Real World Data to Improve Quality of Health Care

An observational study of MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), run by Fondazione Italiana Sindromi Mielodisplastiche-ETS at 2 sites in Italy.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

BACKGROUND Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) typically occur in elderly people and with time, a portion of the patients evolve into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Therefore a risk-adapted treatment strategy is mandatory. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 100 years
Conditions the study is for
MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome)
How many people
1,000 participants
Where
2 sitesItaly
Study dates
3 Jun 2020to 18 Jul 2024
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 100 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: Newly diagnosed patients affected with myelodysplastic syndromes (defined according to 2016 WHO classifcation criteria and stratified according to revised IPSS risk) prospectively enrolled in the FISiM registry

Who may be able to join

  • Newly diagnosed patients affected with MDS:
  • age ≥ 18 years
  • written informed consent

Who cannot join

  • Lack of written informed consent
  • Lack of biological samples (peripheral blood, bone marrow aspirate)

Trial locations and contacts

2 sites in 1 country.

Italy2 sites
  • Elena Crisà

    Candiolo, Torino, 10060

  • IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital

    Rozzano, Milano, 20089

Other trials in Italy

About this study

BACKGROUND Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) typically occur in elderly people and with time, a portion of the patients evolve into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Therefore a risk-adapted treatment strategy is mandatory. Current prognostic scores present limitations, and in most cases fail to capture reliable prognostic information at individual level.

STATE OF THE ART Important steps forward have been made in defining the molecular architecture of MDS and gene mutations have been reported to influence survival and risk of disease progression in MDS. Evaluation of the mutation status may add significant information to currently used prognostic scores and a comprehensive analyses of large, prospective patient populations is warranted to correctly estimate the independent effect of each mutation on clinical outcome and response to treatments.

Read more

AIMS In this project, the investigators will develop a research platform by integrating genomic mutations, clinical variables and patient outcome derived from real-world data obtained from FISiM (Fondazione Italiana Sindromi Mielodisplastiche) clinical network, including 72 hematological centers.

This will allow the investigators to:

  1. define the clinical utility of mutational screening in the diagnostic work-up and classification of MDS
  2. assess the implementation of diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines (appropriateness) in the real-life
  3. evaluate the impact of specific interventions (treatments) on clinical outcomes, long-term complications and costs
  4. identify predictors of response to specific treatments, and develop precision medicine programs in hematology based on Real World Evidence RWD
  5. measure patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and quality of life (QoL) in a real world MDS setting
Read the detailed description

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) typically occur in elderly people. Patients present peripheral blood cytopenia, and with time a portion of these subjects evolve into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MDS are heterogeneous ranging from conditions with a near-normal life expectancy to forms close to AML and therefore a risk-adapted treatment strategy is mandatory. Current prognostic scores present limitations, and in most cases fail to capture reliable prognostic information at individual level. Several therapeutic tools have been proposed for MDS but only few survived the evidence-based criteria of efficacy. Lenalidomide improves anemia in patients with 5q deletion. Allogeneic transplantation (HSCT) is the only potentially curative treatment for high risk patients; however, an accurate selection of candidate patients is needed. Hypomethylating agents (HMA) may improve survival in MDS not eligible HSCT, while predictive factors for clinical response remain to be defined.

Important steps forward have been made in defining the molecular architecture of MDS. The MDS associated with 5q deletion derives from the haploinsufficiency of RPS14 gene. The investigators and others identified genes encoding for spliceosome components in a high proportion of MDS. The investigators found a close relationship between ring sideroblasts and SF3B1 mutations, which is consistent with a causal relationship. In addition, an increasing number of genes have been found to carry recurrent mutations in MDS, involved in DNA methylation (DNMT3A, TET2, IDH1/2), chromatin modification (EZH2, ASXL1), transcriptional regulation (RUNX1), signal transduction. Gene mutations have been reported to influence survival and risk of disease progression in MDS, and the evaluation of the mutation status may add significant information to currently used prognostic scores. Moreover, mutation screening may affect clinical decision making : a) in MDS with 5q-, subjects carrying TP53 mutations have a higher risk of leukemic progression and a lower probability of response to lenalidomide; b) in patients receiving HSCT, TP53 mutations predict high probability of relapse; c) SF3B1 mutations are associated with increased probability of erythroid response to TGFb inhibitors

Despite these findings, caution is needed against immediately adopting such mutational testing in clinical practice. Most of scientific evidence derive from retrospective analyses of selected patient populations. In addition, in patients with MDS genetic abnormalities explain only a proportion of the total hazard for overall survival and outcome associated with specific treatments, meaning that a large percentage is still associated with clinical and non-mutational factors. Comprehensive analyses of large, prospective patient populations are warranted to correctly estimate the independent effect of each mutation on clinical outcome and response to treatments.

Real World Evidence (RWE) is information on health care that is derived from multiple sources outside typical clinical research settings, including electronic health records (EHRs), claims and billing data, product and disease registries, and data gathered through personal devices and health applications National healthcare systems of advanced countries, including Italy, widely agree on the approach whereby public healthcare decisions should be driven by available evidence on effectiveness and safety of therapeutics. It is equally accepted that randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs), although universally recognized as the most robust "evidence generators", are insufficient for guiding the decision-making process since they are intrinsically unsuited to capture the impact of treatments in routine clinical practice. The complexity of treatments, as well as the demographic and clinical heterogeneity of patients receiving the treatments, and the long period of many treatments, explain the gap between the evidence generated in the controlled, but artificial, setting of RCTs and their current impact in the real world.

This explains the growing interest in the development of methods able to produce evidence on the real-world impact of care pathways (i.e., real-world evidence). Among them, those based on the Electronic Healthcare Records (EHRs), are becoming established and receiving increasing attention from the scientific community and healthcare decision-makers. In addition, real world data (RWD) are currently used during drug development to examine aspects such as the natural history of a disease, delineating treatment pathways in clinical practice, and determining the costs and resource use associated with treatment interventions

In this project, the investigators will develop a research platform by integrating genomic mutations, clinical variables and patient outcome derived from real-world data obtained from FISiM (Fondazione Italiana Sindromi Mielodisplastiche) clinical network, including 72 hematological centers. In this context, there is clearly a need to develop effective solutions to analyze and integrate molecular and clinical data of large patient populations, in order to fully understand the relationship between genotype and the clinical expression of a disease. In this area, a solution of excellence has been developed by the research center i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside, University of Harvard, Boston - www.i2b2.org). This center developed an open-source software based on a data-warehouse able to integrate and to exploit all data coming from clinical practice and hospital admissions, making them available and easily accessible by researchers. FISiM network is based on a platform to specifically support hematological research, called i2b2Hematology (www.biomeris.com/index.php/it/tasks/i2b2-hematology-pv-it), allowing researchers to explore and analyze three types of data: (i) the clinical data available in all hematological centers belonging to the clinical network, (ii) the information related to the samples stored in biobanks, and (iii) NGS sequencing data in terms of genomic variants. Relying on this national clinical network and on an innovative informatics infrastructure, in this project the investigators will analyze the interactions among driver mutations clinical variables and patient outcome of specific treatments. At the same time the investigators will render NGS analysis of somatic mutations available for the FISiM centers that need support for this technique.

The investigators will address strategical needs in MDS (i.e., standardization and improvement of diagnostic work-up, clinical relevance of mutational screening, adherence to evidence-based guidelines, drug safety and efficacy, clinical relevance of patient-reported outcomes, PRO and quality of life,QoL) in a real world MDS setting with the final objective to propose a personalized approach for the individual patient.

Keywords
Personalized medicine, Gene mutations, Real-world evidence (RWE), Real world data (RWD)
Medical subject headings
Anemia, Refractory, with Excess of Blasts

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

Study groups in NCT04212390
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
FISiM MDS patientsPatients receiving a diagnosis of MDS and prospectively enrolled in the FISiM registry.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Type and frequency of recurrent gene mutations in MDS patients at diagnosis

    Polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMN)/mononucleated cells (MNC) will be isolated from peripheral blood (PB) and/or bone marrow (BM) samples. Separated cells will be frozen locally and sent to the central lab to perform DNA extraction and NGS screening every 4 months.In all cases, a NGS screening will be performed by targeted approach to sequence all coding exons of 60 candidate genes.

    As a result of this approach, the investigators will describe type and frequency of recurrent gene mutations in MDS patients.

    Measured: 0-24 months

  2. Prognostic significance of gene mutations in MDS patients

    A research platform will be developped by combining FISiM data on genetic and molecular characterization of hematological malignancies together with the national platform (REDCAP database), where clinical data are kept in a protected environment .

    The investigators will analyze the prognostic effect of gene mutations on MDS patients' outcome (overall survival) by multivariable analysis.

    Measured: 12-36 months

  3. Measure of quality of life (QoL) in MDS patients

    The investigators will use QOL-E questionnaire to measure QoL in MDS patients. QOL-E is a specific tool to evaluate patient reported outcomes in patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes. It evaluates the impact of the disease and treatment on 4 general dimensions (physical, functional, social and sexual well-being) and on one specific MDS-related dimension and also fatigue (https://qol-e.it/). Each item is rescaled so that a better response corresponds to a higher numerical value and better QoL.Transformation of raw scores into a 0-100 scale will be carried out to generate the standardized scores for each domain.

    Questionnaire will be completed by the patients upon study entry. Follow-up measurements will be performed every 6 months for patients receiving supportive care (including RBC transfusions), before and after disease modifying treatments (every 4 months) and at the time of disease progression.

    Measured: 0-24 months

  4. Measure of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in MDS patients.

    The investigators will use HM-PRO questionnaire (Hematology specific patient-reported outocome measure) to measure PRO in MDS patients.

    The HM-PRO is a composite measure consisting of two scales: Part A (mesures the impact of MDS and its treatment on a patient's quality of life; Part B (signs and symptoms, SS) captures the severity of different disease symptoms and treatment side effects (https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/10.2217/cer-2018-0108?url_ver=Z39.88-2003\&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org\&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\&). Both scales have linear scoring system ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing greater impact on QoL and symptom burden.

    Questionnaire will be completed by the patients upon study entry. Follow-up measurements will be performed every 6 months for patients receiving supportive care (including RBC transfusions), before and after disease modifying treatments (every 4 months) and at the time of disease progression.

    Measured: 0-24 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted27 Dec 2019
  2. Study start3 Jun 2020
  3. Primary completion18 Jul 2024
  4. Study completion18 Jul 2024

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
1,000 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04212390
Sponsor's protocol ID
FISIMMDS2020
Acronym
FISiM-NGS-MDS
Status last verified
Jul 2024
First submitted
20 Dec 2019
Last updated
4 Mar 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • https://www.ctti-clinicaltrials.org/files/recommendations/registrytrials-recs.pdf

  • Ades L, Itzykson R, Fenaux P. Myelodysplastic syndromes. Lancet. 2014 Jun 28;383(9936):2239-52. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61901-7. Epub 2014 Mar 21.

    PubMed 24656536
  • Jaiswal S, Fontanillas P, Flannick J, Manning A, Grauman PV, Mar BG, Lindsley RC, Mermel CH, Burtt N, Chavez A, Higgins JM, Moltchanov V, Kuo FC, Kluk MJ, Henderson B, Kinnunen L, Koistinen HA, Ladenvall C, Getz G, Correa A, Banahan BF, Gabriel S, Kathiresan S, Stringham HM, McCarthy MI, Boehnke M, Tuomilehto J, Haiman C, Groop L, Atzmon G, Wilson JG, Neuberg D, Altshuler D, Ebert BL. Age-related clonal hematopoiesis associated with adverse outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2014 Dec 25;371(26):2488-98. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1408617. Epub 2014 Nov 26.

    PubMed 25426837
  • Cazzola M, Della Porta MG, Malcovati L. The genetic basis of myelodysplasia and its clinical relevance. Blood. 2013 Dec 12;122(25):4021-34. doi: 10.1182/blood-2013-09-381665. Epub 2013 Oct 17.

    PubMed 24136165
  • Greenberg PL, Tuechler H, Schanz J, Sanz G, Garcia-Manero G, Sole F, Bennett JM, Bowen D, Fenaux P, Dreyfus F, Kantarjian H, Kuendgen A, Levis A, Malcovati L, Cazzola M, Cermak J, Fonatsch C, Le Beau MM, Slovak ML, Krieger O, Luebbert M, Maciejewski J, Magalhaes SM, Miyazaki Y, Pfeilstocker M, Sekeres M, Sperr WR, Stauder R, Tauro S, Valent P, Vallespi T, van de Loosdrecht AA, Germing U, Haase D. Revised international prognostic scoring system for myelodysplastic syndromes. Blood. 2012 Sep 20;120(12):2454-65. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-03-420489. Epub 2012 Jun 27.

    PubMed 22740453
  • Della Porta MG, Alessandrino EP, Bacigalupo A, van Lint MT, Malcovati L, Pascutto C, Falda M, Bernardi M, Onida F, Guidi S, Iori AP, Cerretti R, Marenco P, Pioltelli P, Angelucci E, Oneto R, Ripamonti F, Bernasconi P, Bosi A, Cazzola M, Rambaldi A; Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo. Predictive factors for the outcome of allogeneic transplantation in patients with MDS stratified according to the revised IPSS-R. Blood. 2014 Apr 10;123(15):2333-42. doi: 10.1182/blood-2013-12-542720. Epub 2014 Feb 20.

    PubMed 24558201
  • Fenaux P, Mufti GJ, Hellstrom-Lindberg E, Santini V, Finelli C, Giagounidis A, Schoch R, Gattermann N, Sanz G, List A, Gore SD, Seymour JF, Bennett JM, Byrd J, Backstrom J, Zimmerman L, McKenzie D, Beach C, Silverman LR; International Vidaza High-Risk MDS Survival Study Group. Efficacy of azacitidine compared with that of conventional care regimens in the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: a randomised, open-label, phase III study. Lancet Oncol. 2009 Mar;10(3):223-32. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(09)70003-8. Epub 2009 Feb 21.

    PubMed 19230772
  • Della Porta MG, Galli A, Bacigalupo A, Zibellini S, Bernardi M, Rizzo E, Allione B, van Lint MT, Pioltelli P, Marenco P, Bosi A, Voso MT, Sica S, Cuzzola M, Angelucci E, Rossi M, Ubezio M, Malovini A, Limongelli I, Ferretti VV, Spinelli O, Tresoldi C, Pozzi S, Luchetti S, Pezzetti L, Catricala S, Milanesi C, Riva A, Bruno B, Ciceri F, Bonifazi F, Bellazzi R, Papaemmanuil E, Santoro A, Alessandrino EP, Rambaldi A, Cazzola M. Clinical Effects of Driver Somatic Mutations on the Outcomes of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes Treated With Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Oct 20;34(30):3627-3637. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.67.3616.

    PubMed 27601546
  • Gerstung M, Papaemmanuil E, Martincorena I, Bullinger L, Gaidzik VI, Paschka P, Heuser M, Thol F, Bolli N, Ganly P, Ganser A, McDermott U, Dohner K, Schlenk RF, Dohner H, Campbell PJ. Precision oncology for acute myeloid leukemia using a knowledge bank approach. Nat Genet. 2017 Mar;49(3):332-340. doi: 10.1038/ng.3756. Epub 2017 Jan 16.

    PubMed 28092685
  • Grinfeld J, Nangalia J, Baxter EJ, Wedge DC, Angelopoulos N, Cantrill R, Godfrey AL, Papaemmanuil E, Gundem G, MacLean C, Cook J, O'Neil L, O'Meara S, Teague JW, Butler AP, Massie CE, Williams N, Nice FL, Andersen CL, Hasselbalch HC, Guglielmelli P, McMullin MF, Vannucchi AM, Harrison CN, Gerstung M, Green AR, Campbell PJ. Classification and Personalized Prognosis in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms. N Engl J Med. 2018 Oct 11;379(15):1416-1430. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1716614.

    PubMed 30304655
  • Anglemyer A, Horvath HT, Bero L. Healthcare outcomes assessed with observational study designs compared with those assessed in randomized trials. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Apr 29;2014(4):MR000034. doi: 10.1002/14651858.MR000034.pub2.

    PubMed 24782322
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    PubMed 26667601
  • Benson K, Hartz AJ. A comparison of observational studies and randomized, controlled trials. N Engl J Med. 2000 Jun 22;342(25):1878-86. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200006223422506.

    PubMed 10861324
  • Berger ML, Sox H, Willke RJ, Brixner DL, Eichler HG, Goettsch W, Madigan D, Makady A, Schneeweiss S, Tarricone R, Wang SV, Watkins J, Daniel Mullins C. Good practices for real-world data studies of treatment and/or comparative effectiveness: Recommendations from the joint ISPOR-ISPE Special Task Force on real-world evidence in health care decision making. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2017 Sep;26(9):1033-1039. doi: 10.1002/pds.4297.

    PubMed 28913966
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    PubMed 27518663

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), run by Fondazione Italiana Sindromi Mielodisplastiche-ETS at 2 sites in Italy.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Mar 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 2 sites in Italy. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Type and frequency of recurrent gene mutations in MDS patients at diagnosis (time frame: 0-24 months). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04212390, which also lists 19 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Mar 2025.

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