Distinct patterns of clonal evolution drive myelodysplastic syndrome progression to secondary acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract Clonal evolution in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) can result in clinical progression and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML). To dissect changes in clonal architecture associated with this progression, we performed single-cell genotyping of paired MDS and sAML samples from 18 patients. Analysis of single-cell genotypes revealed patient-specific clonal evolution and enabled assessment of single-cell mutational co-occurrence. We discovered changes in clonal architecture proceed via distinct patterns, classified as static or dynamic, with dynamic clonal architectures having a more proliferative phenotype by blast count fold change. Proteogenomic analysis of a subset of patients confirmed pathogenic mutations were primarily confined to primitive and mature myeloid cells, though we also identify rare, but present, mutations in lymphocyte subsets. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of paired sample sets further identified gene sets and signaling pathways involved in two cases of progression. Together, these data define serial changes in the MDS clonal landscape with clinical and therapeutic implications.