In patients with CML, standardized, regular MRD monitoring is essential for defining treatment response, choosing the best therapeutic strategy, providing prognostic information, and selecting patients who have achieved a sustained deep molecular response and are eligible for discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, Italian researchers write in a review article published in June in Oncology Nurse Advisor.

Detection of the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR remains the “gold standard” method of monitoring MRD in CML, they write. New MRD monitoring systems based on the detection of other molecular markers may ultimately improve the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of disease detection, but these all require validation before they can be introduced into clinical practice.

Tags: MRD, CML