Methodological aspects of the detection of minimal residual disease in patients with acute leukemia

Abstract

Introduction. The study of minimal residual disease (MRD) has become an integral part of various treatment protocols for acute leukemia. Methods of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multicolor fl ow cytometry (MFC) are most widely used to assess MRD.Aim — to characterize the main technologies for the detection of residual tumor cells in acute leukemiaMain findings. Various approaches for detecting MRD are described: PCR with patient-specifi c primers for rearranged genes of immunoglobulin and/or T-cell receptors, reverse transcription PCR for detecting chimeric transcripts and assessing the expression of overexpressed genes, as well as the basics of detecting MRD by MFC. Each of these approaches has its own advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of use.