Prognostic value of MRD-dynamics in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated according to the MB-2002/2008 protocols.

Detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) during the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by RQ-PCR analysis of clonal Ig/TCR rearrangements is used for risk group stratification in European treatment protocols. In Belarus patients with childhood ALL are treated according to ALL-MB protocols, which do not use MRD-based risk stratification. To evaluate the prognostic significance of MRD for ALL-MB-2002/2008 protocols, MRD was quantified by RQ-PCR in 68 ALL patients at four time points: on day 15, on day 36, before and after maintenance therapy (MT).