Monitoring of 102 Cases of Minimal Residual Disease in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Its Relationship to Clinic and Prognosis

Objective To explore the relationship of minimal residual disease(MRD) in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL) to the clinic and prognosis.Methods A total of 102 cases of MRD in childhood ALL(28 cases in low-risk group,50 in medium-risk group and 24 in high-risk group)were treated with ALL-XH-99 protocol and were followed-up for 6-28 months.CD45/SSC gating dual-parameter three-color flow cytometry(FCM) was used to monitor MRD in children who achieved CR at the end of induction therapy or at 6 months after initiating chemotherapy.Results There were significant differences in MRD-positive rate among the three groups at the end of induction therapy and at 6 months after initiating chemotherapy(P0.05 and P0.01,respectively).MRD-positive rate in high-risk group was significantly higher than that in medium-risk group or low-risk group(P0.05 and P0.01).Moreover,the relapse rate in MRD-positive patients was obviously higher than that in MRD-negative patients(P0.05 and P0.001).Conclusion The detection of MRD can help to determine the efficacy and prognosis of childhood ALL.