It is now known that minimal residual disease can regrow once treatment was stopped.

Minimal Residual Disease low levels of leukaemia cells present in the body after or during treatment.

This antibody is used for treating minimal residual disease or consolidation instead of stem cell transplant.

The improvements in response rates from more intensive regimens have maximized the clearance of minimal residual disease.

Background: the problem of minimal residual disease (MRD)

Tests which uncover minimal residual disease (one cancerous cell in a population of one million normal cells) are helpful for directing treatment and preventing relapse.

High-dose, marrow ablative, chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cell transplant may be effective in a subset of patients with minimal residual disease at time of treatment.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) tests are used to quantify residual cancer, enabling detection of tumor markers before physical signs and symptoms return.

Added text to state that in a multivariate analysis, a minimal residual disease greater than 1% was a strong indicator of relapse (cited Rubnitz et al. as reference 33).

Surgery should be performed in an attempt at maximal tumor reduction; children have improved progression-free survival (PFS) if there is minimal residual disease present after surgery.

The alternative is to target patients with minimal residual disease after de-bulking of the tumor by surgery, radiotherapy or (providing it does not in itself harm the immune system) chemotherapy.

Eckert C, Biondi A, Seeger K, et al.: Prognostic value of minimal residual disease in relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Coustan-Smith E, Gajjar A, Hijiya N, et al.: Clinical significance of minimal residual disease in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia after first relapse.

When several drugs were studied, mostly in the setting of minimal residual disease at reassessment after patients had received their initial chemotherapy, cisplatin alone and in combination received the most attention.

Ravandi F, Jorgensen JL, O'Brien SM, et al.: Eradication of minimal residual disease in hairy cell leukemia.

Moreton P, Kennedy B, Lucas G, et al.: Eradication of minimal residual disease in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia after alemtuzumab therapy is associated with prolonged survival.

Mussolin L, Pillon M, Conter V, et al.: Prognostic role of minimal residual disease in mature B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood.

Goulden N, Bader P, Van Der Velden V, et al.: Minimal residual disease prior to stem cell transplant for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Paganin M, Zecca M, Fabbri G, et al.: Minimal residual disease is an important predictive factor of outcome in children with relapsed 'high-risk' acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Chemotherapy induction variations, timing of surgery, stem cell transplant regimens, various delivery schemes for radiation, and use of monoclonal antibodies and retinoids to treat minimal residual disease continue to be examined.

Stow P, Key L, Chen X, et al.: Clinical significance of low levels of minimal residual disease at the end of remission induction therapy in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sramkova L, Muzikova K, Fronkova E, et al.: Detectable minimal residual disease before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation predicts extremely poor prognosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Pichert G, Roy DC, Gonin R, et al.: Distinct patterns of minimal residual disease associated with graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Van der Velden VH, Corral L, Valsecchi MG, et al.: Prognostic significance of minimal residual disease in infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated within the Interfant-99 protocol.

Dormant cancer cells are thought to be present in early tumor progression, in micrometastases, or left behind in minimal residual disease (MRD) after what was thought to be a successful treatment of the primary tumor.