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A further milestone towards comprehensive standardization of quantitative RT-PCR protocols for leukemic fusion gene transcripts has been reached

Leukemia volume 17, pages 2383–2384 (2003)Cite this article

During the last decade, several studies have shown that the detection and quantification of residual tumor cells significantly correlates with clinical outcome in several types of leukemia. In particular, the quantitative measurement of the decrease of the leukemic cell load during the first phases of treatment has high prognostic value.1 The detection of minimal residual disease is now becoming routinely implemented in treatment protocols and is increasingly used for guiding therapy and for the evaluation of new treatment modalities.2

In view of the limited value of qualitative PCR for treatment surveillance, quantitative PCR assays were developed. Competitive RT-PCR was employed to monitor chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients after stem cell transplantation3,4 or treatment with interferon alpha,5 and patients with acute leukemias harboring specific fusion transcripts (CBFB-MYH116; AML1-ETO7,8). Despite considerable specificity and sensitivity, these methods were cumbersome and time-consuming, and therefore employed in specialized laboratories only.

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  1. III Medizinische Universitätsklinik, Fakultät für Klinische Medizin Mannheim der Universität Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

    A Hochhaus

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Hochhaus, A. A further milestone towards comprehensive standardization of quantitative RT-PCR protocols for leukemic fusion gene transcripts has been reached. Leukemia 17, 2383–2384 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403137

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