Minimal residual disease assessment in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a Swedish multi-centre study comparing real-time polymerase chain reaction and multicolour flow cytometry.
Author
Summary, in English
Minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment is a powerful prognostic factor for determining the risk of relapse in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). In this Swedish multi-centre study of childhood ALL diagnosed between 2002 and 2006, the MRD levels were analysed in 726 follow-up samples in 228 children using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) of rearranged immunoglobulin/T-cell receptor genes and multicolour flow cytometry (FCM). Using an MRD threshold of 0·1%, which was the sensitivity level reached in all analyses, the concordance between RQ-PCR and FCM MRD values at day 29 was 84%. In B-cell precursor ALL, an MRD level of ≥0·1% at day 29 predicted a higher risk of bone marrow relapse (BMR) with both methods, although FCM was a better discriminator. However, considering the higher median MRD values achieved with RQ-PCR, a higher MRD cut-off (≥0·2%) improved the predictive capacity of RQ-PCR. In T-ALL, RQ-PCR was notably superior to FCM in predicting risk of BMR. That notwithstanding, MRD levels of ≥0·1%, detected by either method at day 29, could not predict isolated extramedullary relapse. In conclusion, the concordance between RQ-PCR and FCM was high and hence both methods are valuable clinical tools for identifying childhood ALL cases with increased risk of BMR.
Department/s
Publishing year
2011
Language
English
Pages
743-753
Publication/Series
British Journal of Haematology
Volume
152
Issue
6
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Hematology
Keywords
- childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
- disease
- minimal residual
- TCR genes
- rearranged IG
- flow cytometry
- RQ-PCR
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0007-1048