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Monitoring of post-transplant remission of childhood malignancies: is there a standard?

Abstract

Chimerism analysis has become an important tool for the peri-transplant surveillance of engraftment. It offers the possibility to realize imminent graft rejection and it can serve as an indicator for the recurrence of the underlying malignant or non-malignant disease. In addition to this analysis, the characterization of residual disease (MRD) prior to and in the course of follow-up post transplant has become an important prognostic factor to highlight patients at highest risk for relapse. Consecutive post transplant MRD monitoring, together with chimerism analysis, allows the detection of impending relapse in a substantial group of children transplanted for acute leukemia. Consequently, these investigations have become the basis for treatment intervention, for example, to avoid graft rejection, to maintain engraftment and to treat imminent relapse by pre-emptive immunotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the ‘Wilhelm Sander Stiftung’, München, Germany and the ‘Deutsche Krebshilfe’, Bonn, Germany [PB].

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Correspondence to P Bader.

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Peter Bader received lecture fees from an unnamed source. All other authors have declared no financial interests.

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Bader, P., Willasch, A. & Klingebiel, T. Monitoring of post-transplant remission of childhood malignancies: is there a standard?. Bone Marrow Transplant 42 (Suppl 2), S31–S34 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2008.280

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