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Minimal Residual Disease

Detection of minimal residual disease by real-time PCR can be used as a surrogate marker to evaluate the graft-versus-myeloma effect after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 32, pages 791–793 (2003)Cite this article

Summary:

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is an effective and potentially curative treatment for some cases of multiple myeloma (MM). The curative efficacy of allo-SCT may be largely attributed to its immunological activity, the graft-versus-myeloma (GVM) effect. To evaluate the kinetics of residual myeloma cells, we analyzed the follow-up bone marrow samples of three MM patients by means of a real-time molecular assay. We identified a consistent correlation between onset of graft-versus-host disease and disease response. These data suggest that real-time molecular follow-up can be used to monitor the GVM effect and that it can be employed in the clinical setting to tailor post transplant immunomodulation.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported in part by grants from AIRC, Fondazione Michelangelo and Compagnia di San Paolo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Ematologia Molecolare, Istituto Scientifico HS Raffaele, Milano, Italy

    C Voena

  2. Dipartimento di Virologia Umana, Dibit, HS Raffaele, Milano, Italy

    M Malnati & G Fagà

  3. Unità Trapianto Midollo Osseo, Ospedale Cervello, Palermo, Italy

    I Majolino & A Santoro

  4. Ematologia, Unità Trapianto Midollo Osseo, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Università di Milano, Milano, Italy

    V Montefusco, L Farina & P Corradini

  5. Divisione Universitaria di Ematologia, Azienda Ospedaliera San Giovanni Battista, Torino, Italy

    M Ladetto & M Boccadoro

Authors
  1. C Voena
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  2. M Malnati
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  3. I Majolino
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  4. G Fagà
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  5. V Montefusco
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  6. L Farina
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  7. A Santoro
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  8. M Ladetto
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  9. M Boccadoro
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  10. P Corradini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to V Montefusco.

Additional information

Claudia Voena and Mauro Malnati equally contributed to this work

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Voena, C., Malnati, M., Majolino, I. et al. Detection of minimal residual disease by real-time PCR can be used as a surrogate marker to evaluate the graft-versus-myeloma effect after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 32, 791–793 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1704207

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1704207

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