[Detection of minimal residual disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in chronic myeloid leukemia].
OBJECTIVE
To detect minimal residual disease (MRD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).


METHODS
M-bcr/abl mRNA was assayed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in bone marrow cells from 46 successfully sibling marrow engrafted CML patients.


RESULTS
About 70% of the patients achieved genetic complete remission in 3 months post allo-BMT. Four patients were M-bcr/abc mRNA positive at 1.5 to 2 months post allo-BMT and turned to be negative at 3 to 9 months post allo-BMT. One patient was still M-bcr/abl(+) after disease-free survival(DFS) for more than 6 years, while another one was M-bcr/abl(-) after DFS for more than 4 years.


CONCLUSIONS
RT-PCR is so far the most sensitive method for MRD detection in CML, but its limitation should not be ignored.
Liu
Y
Y
Institute of Hematology, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100034.
Fu
J
J
Yu
X
X
Chang
Y
Y
Xue
W
W
Chen
S
S
Lu
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D055815:Young Adult