SUMMARY Which genetic alterations drive tumorigenesis and how they evolve over the course of disease and therapy are central questions in cancer biology. We identify 44 recurrently mutated genes and 11 recurrent somatic copy number variations through whole-exome sequencing of 538 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and matched germline DNA samples, 278 of which were collected in a prospective clinical trial. These include previously unrecognized cancer drivers (RPS15, IKZF3) and collectively identify RNA processing and export, MYC activity and MAPK signaling as central pathways involved in CLL. Clonality analysis of this large dataset further enabled reconstruction of temporal relationships between driver events. Direct comparison between matched pre-treatment and relapse samples from 59 patients demonstrated highly frequent clonal evolution. Thus, large sequencing datasets of clinically informative samples enable the discovery of novel cancer genes and the network of relationships between the driver events and their impact on disease relapse and clinical outcome.

CLL with TP53 mutation carries a poor prognosis regardless of the presence of 17p deletion when treated with F-based chemotherapy. Thus, TP53 mutation analysis should be incorporated into the evaluation of patients with CLL before treatment initiation. Patients with TP53 mutation should be considered for alternative treatment approaches.