title: Monitoring and managing minimal residual disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: In adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) the complete remission (CR) rates have improved to 85% to 90%. Despite this high CR rate, 40% to 50% of patients eventually relapse. This occurs because of the limited sensitivity of cytomorphology in assessing complete molecular remission. Thus, more sensitive methods that detect leukemic cells on a molecular level and identify minimal residual disease are needed.
authors.affiliation: From ONKOLOGIKUM, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoelzer
mesh_terms: D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*