Journal
LEUKEMIA
Volume 18, Issue 5, Pages 934-938Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/sj.leu.2403348
Keywords
acute lymphoblastic leukemia; minimal residual disease; flow cytometry; polymerase chain reaction
Categories
Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [CA60419, CA21765, CA52259] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Minimal residual disease (MRD) is an independent prognostic factor in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The most widely applied MRD assays in ALL are flow cytometric identification of leukemia immunophenotypes and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of antigen-receptor genes. We measured MRD by both assays in 227 patients with childhood B-lineage ALL. Of 1375 samples (736 bone marrow and 639 peripheral blood) examined, MRD was <0.01% in 1200, and >= 0.01% in 129 by both assays; MRD levels measured by the two methods correlated well. Of the remaining 46 samples, 28 had MRD >= 0.01% by flow cytometry but <0.01% by PCR. However, PCR (which had a consistent sensitivity of 0.001%) detected leukemic gene rearrangements in 26 of these 28 samples. Conversely, in 18 samples, MRD was greater than or equal to0.01% by PCR but <0.01% by flow cytometry. In nine of these samples, flow cytometry had a sensitivity of 0.001%, and detected aberrant immunophenotypes in eight samples. Therefore, the two most widely used methods for MRD detection in ALL yield concordant results in the vast majority of cases, although the estimated levels of MRD may vary in some. The use of the two methods in tandem ensures MRD monitoring in all patients.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available