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Clinical significance of minimal residual disease in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia after first relapse

Leukemia volume 18, pages 1727–1728 (2004)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Recently, Coustan-Smith et al1 presented data on the prognostic impact of minimal residual disease (MRD) in children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In front-line trials, this method is already being used for patient stratification, and also in the current trial for relapsed ALL, ALL-REZ BFM 2002, the level of MRD at day 36 is decisive for the indication of stem cell transplantation (SCT) in intermediate risk patients.2 In this particular group, a reliable prediction of subsequent relapse is crucial to allow the allocation of patients to treatment regimens of adequate efficacy and justifiable toxicity. Coustan-Smith and co-workers assessed MRD prospectively after remission reinduction using flow cytometry in a cohort of patients with first relapse of ALL. The authors confirm the prognostic value of MRD after induction therapy in children with ALL relapse, in accordance with our data on a retrospective study using molecular genetic methods.2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatric Oncology/Haematology, ALL-REZ BFM-Study Group, Charité, Universitiy of Berlin, Germany

    A von Stackelberg, K Seeger, G Henze & C Eckert

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  1. A von Stackelberg
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  2. K Seeger
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  3. G Henze
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  4. C Eckert
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Correspondence to A von Stackelberg.

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von Stackelberg, A., Seeger, K., Henze, G. et al. Clinical significance of minimal residual disease in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia after first relapse. Leukemia 18, 1727–1728 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403475

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