Craig Eckfeldt, MD, PhD, assistant professor, drugs, college, Microbiology, Immunology, and Most cancers Biology PhD Graduate Program, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, the College of Minnesota Medical College, discusses how improved minimal residual illness (MRD) testing strategies have impacted the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remedy paradigm, improved remedy outcomes, clarified risk-stratification measures, and contributed to individualized affected person care.
At an OncLive® State of the Science Summit on hematologic malignancies, Eckfeldt and colleagues participated in a dialogue about the evolution of the AML remedy paradigm, throughout which they mirrored on rising brokers, the function of MRD testing, and unanswered questions that future analysis could tackle.
The arrival of MRD detection is considerably impacting the administration of hematologic malignancies, in addition to different cancers, Eckfeldt begins. Within the remedy of sufferers with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, MRD detection has change into essential for prognostication and guiding remedy targets, he says. Though the applying of MRD testing in AML has lagged comparatively, trendy applied sciences, resembling improved multiparameter circulate cytometry and superior genetic exams like polymerase chain response–primarily based assays, have made MRD an essential finish level when evaluating new AML remedy approaches, he explains.
MRD detection has confirmed priceless each earlier than and after transplantation, aiding remedy choices for sufferers who could have historically been thought of to have favorable-risk illness, Eckfeldt elaborates. Though many sufferers obtain their therapeutic targets, some nonetheless relapse, he notes. The usage of MRD testing to establish sufferers who’re at increased threat of relapse and should profit from extra intensive remedies or novel therapies has revolutionized affected person care, he emphasizes. The increasing repertoire of markers for MRD analysis will additional improve the utility of MRD as a essential instrument for assessing illness standing and guiding scientific choices. This may in the end enhance affected person outcomes by enabling higher threat stratification and personalization of remedy plans, Eckfeldt concludes.
