title: Detection of occult leukemic cells in the autologous bone marrow graft of a patient with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia by a highly specific and sensitive assay.
abstract: A patient with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) in second remission was treated with high doses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, followed by transplantation of autologous bone marrow purged ex-vivo with an anti-CD5-saporin immunotoxin (OKT1-SAP). Prior to transplantation the bone marrow graft had been considered in complete remission, as assessed by morphology and immunophenotyping. Twenty-two days after transplantation, the disease relapsed in the bone marrow with the same phenotype as at the onset. Retrospective analysis of the transplanted marrow cells by a recently developed high sensitivity and specificity assay (HSS assay), involving immunologic fractionation and T-cell receptor rearrangement analysis, revealed a graft contamination of approximately 0.5% malignant T-cells. This finding, together with the early post-transplant leukemic relapse, strongly suggests that the bone marrow was the source of the leukemic cells. The data are discussed for their implications on residual leukemia detection by gene rearrangement studies.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bregni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siena
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Subar
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonadonna
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dalla-Favera
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gianni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination / Q000379:methods*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous