Evaluation of CD304 (Neuropilin-1) as a Novel Marker for Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Childhood B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy (30%). The effective treatment of pediatric ALL is one of the great successes of Clinical Oncology, achieving survival rates of 80-85%. However, disease relapse remains the most common cause of treatment failure (15-20%). The term "minimal residual disease, MRD" describes a disease that is detected only by laboratory techniques more sensitive than morphology, such as flow cytometry (FCM) for immunologic MRD, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for molecular MRD. This residual disease is believed to be minimal, being found in the absence of clinical signs or symptoms. The MRD testing in acute leukemia is used for measuring early treatment response, and identifying patients who achieved morphologic remission, but still harbor considerable levels of disease. The ultimate goal of MRD assays is to guide therapeutic decisions by distinguishing patients in whom therapy must be continued or intensified to minimize the likelihood of clinical relapse.