부산대학교 도서관

The identification of patients at high risk of relapse is crucial for treatment stratification in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Persistence and reoccurrence of AML cells with aberrant phenotypes can be assessed by flow cytometry at high sensitivity in more than 95% of patients. Therefore, assessment by flow cytometry enables determination of MRD status in patients without suitable molecular markers (e.g. NPM1). Previously, we demonstrated that early detection of MRD during aplasia is associated with shorter relapse-free survival (RFS) after intensive induction chemotherapy (Köhnke T et al., Leukemia 2015). Here, we aimed to validate these findings in an independent patient cohort. In addition, we assessed the prognostic value of a combined MRD determination during aplasia and post induction for improved prediction of relapse-free survival (RFS).