Detection of minimal residual leukemia using polymerase chain reaction method

: Until recently, it was impossible to identify leukemia cells making up less than 1% of a bone marrow sample, which is designated as minimal residual disease (MRD). Owing to the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) MRD can be detected at the 10(-5) level by amplifying the leukemia-specific DNA rearrangement (BCR/ABL, PML/RARA etc.) or clone-specific DNA sequences (IgH chain CDR-III etc.). Here, our studies on MRD of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute promyelocytic leukemia are presented, and their technical problems and clinical significance are discussed.