Metabolomics profiling of acute myelogenous leukemia patients to identify systemic differences associated with in vitro sensitivity to SYK inhibitors

INTRODUCTION: Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous hematological malignancy. Despite therapeutic advances, high relapse rates and poor survival persist, underscoring the need for new treatment strategies. Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is crucial for leukemic cell survival and proliferation, and SYK inhibition is being explored in AML therapy. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify whether distinct baseline serum metabolic profiles can differentiate between AML patient samples exhibiting high versus low in vitro sensitivity to SYK inhibition. METHODS: Leukemic cells from 49 AML patients were evaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative response to SYK-selective inhibitors (entospletinib, RO9021) and dual SYK/FLT3 inhibitors (fostamatinib, TAK-659). Serum samples from the same patients were subjected to untargeted metabolomic profiling using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Bioinformatic analyses were applied to identify metabolic signatures associated with differential drug sensitivity. RESULTS: Hierarchical clustering identified three drug sensitivity groups, i.e. high, intermediate, low. Untargeted metabolomics identified 1204 metabolites across major pathways. Comparative analyses revealed distinct metabolic differences between patients with high versus low sensitivity to SYK inhibitors. For dual SYK/FLT3 inhibitors, lipid metabolites consistently were more discriminative for drug response, while for SYK selective inhibitors the profiles were more heterogeneous. Pathway analyses highlighted alterations in amino acid, lipid, and xenobiotic metabolism, including arginine biosynthesis and glycine/serine metabolism, as potential determinators for effect of SYK inhibition. CONCLUSION: This study highlights potential metabolite signatures associated with in vitro SYK-targeted therapy in AML. These findings support future research to identify potential serum biomarkers, guiding personalized SYK inhibition strategies in AML.