The predictive strength of next-generation sequencing MRD detection for relapse compared with current methods in childhood ALL
Abstract
Minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring via antigen receptor quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is an important predictor of outcome in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), is rigorously standardized within the EuroMRD consortium and has a greater sensitivity than flow cytometry (FC), which has been used in other trials.1 However, qPCR is laborious, expensive, and time consuming because of the development of patient-specific assays. MRD detection based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of antigen receptor gene rearrangements is a promising tool that permits sequencing of large numbers of rearranged V-(D)-J segments and thus provides the picture of not only residual leukemia but also the normal immune repertoire of respective cells.