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How I investigate minimal residual disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Author(s) -
Correia Rodolfo P.,
Bento Laiz C.,
de Sousa Flávia A.,
Barroso Rodrigo de S.,
Campregher Paulo V.,
Bacal Nydia S.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of laboratory hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.705
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1751-553X
pISSN - 1751-5521
DOI - 10.1111/ijlh.13463
Subject(s) - minimal residual disease , medicine , flow cytometry , lymphoblastic leukemia , oncology , fusion gene , disease , clinical trial , immunology , leukemia , gene , biology , genetics
Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) is the most important independent prognostic factor in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and refers to the deep level of measurable disease in cases with complete remission by conventional pathologic analysis, especially by cytomorphology. MRD can be detected by multiparametric flow cytometry, molecular approaches such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction for immunoglobulin and T‐cell receptor (IG/TR) gene rearrangements or fusion genes transcript, and high‐throughput sequencing for IG/TR. Despite the proven clinical usefulness in detecting MRD, these methods have differences in sensitivity, specificity, applicability, turnaround time and cost. Knowing and understanding these differences, as well as the principles and limitations of each technology, is essential to laboratory standardization and correct interpretation of MRD results in line with treatment time points, therapeutic settings, and clinical trials. Here, we review the methodological approaches to measure MRD in ALL and discuss the advantages and limitations of the most commonly used techniques.