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Purpose Minimal residual disease (MRD) before allogeneic stem-cell transplantation was shown to predict outcome in children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in retrospective analysis. To verify this, the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Relapse Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (ALL-REZ BFM) Study Group conducted a prospective trial. Patients and Methods Between March 1999 and July 2005, 91 children with relapsed ALL treated according to the ALL-REZ BFM 96 or 2002 protocols and receiving stem-cell transplantation in ≥ second remission were enrolled. MRD quantification was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction using T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements. Results Probability of event-free survival (pEFS) and cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) in 45 patients with MRD ≥ 10 −4 leukemic cells was 0.27 and 0.57 compared with 0.60 and 0.13 in 46 patients with MRD less than 10 −4 leukemic cells (EFS, P = .004; CIR, P < .001). Intermediate-risk patients (strategic group S1) with MRD ≥ 10 −4 leukemic cells (n = 14) had a pEFS of 0.20 and CIR of 0.73, whereas patients with MRD less than 10 −4 leukemic cells (n = 21) had a pEFS of 0.68 and CIR of 0.09 (EFS, P = .020; CIR, P < .001). High-risk patients (S3/4, third complete remission) who received transplantation with an MRD load of less than 10 −4 leukemic cells (n = 25) showed a pEFS and CRI of 0.53 and 0.18, respectively. In contrast, pEFS and CRI were 0.30 and 0.50 in patients who received transplantation with an MRD load of ≥ 10 −4 leukemic cells. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed MRD as the only independent parameter predictive for EFS (P = .006). Conclusion MRD is an important predictor for post-transplantation outcome. As a result, new strategies with modified stem-cell transplantation procedures will be evaluated in ALL-BFM trials.
Bader et al. (Mon,) studied this question.