Loading...
The use of sensitive assays to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) has been associated with outcomes in a variety of cancers. Now, investigators have utilized next-generation sequencing to detect residual acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells following induction chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed AML. Clonal mutations were identified from diagnostic AML cells and reassessed following induction therapy.
Of 482 patients studied, 430 had an identifiable clonal molecular marker. At a median follow-up of 40 months, patients with versus without detectable postinduction MRD experienced higher rates of relapse (55.4% vs. 31.9%; P<0.001) and lower overall survival (41.9% vs. 66.1%; P<0.001). Of note, mutations in TET2, DNMT3A, and ASXL1, wh…