• Raffaele Palmieri, Francesco Buccisano, Luca Maurillo, Maria I Del Principe, Giovangiacinto Paterno, Adriano Venditti, Giovanni Martinelli, and Claudio Cerchione.
• Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
• Minerva Med. 2020 Oct 1; 111 (5): 386-394.

AbstractBaseline cytogenetic/genetic features have been widely recognized to play a critical prognostic role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and have proven useful in designing risk-adapted treatment strategies. Nevertheless, to improve further the outcome of AML patients we are still in need of accurate methods to explore the quality of response and to adequately discriminate patients who are likely to relapse over time from those who are in deep and stable remission. In this view, is it well established that measurement of leukemic cells surviving chemotherapy (called measurable residual disease, MRD) during the course of treatment may be a reliable biomarker in predicting relapse. Detection of MRD relies on highly sensitive techniques, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction and multiparametric flow cytometry, which, due to their levels of specificity and sensitivity, are increasingly included in the decision-making process of AML treatment. In the present manuscript, we will review the current techniques of MRD investigation and their clinical contribution to AML management.

26 keywords...

hide…