Effect of Measurable (‘minimal’) Residual Disease (MRD) Information on Prediction of Relapse and Survival in Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: With the gradual improvement in treatment-related mortality over the last several decades, therapeutic resistance remains the primary challenge in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Accurate prediction of treatment outcomes, including relapse, would facilitate decision-making, e.g. regarding assignment of patients to risk-stratified investigational or standard therapies. Yet, our previous studies have indicated that our ability to predict therapeutic resistance based on detailed pre-treatment information, including cytogenetic and molecular profiling data, remains relatively limited. Here, we investigated to what degree the prediction of relapse and survival can be improved for individual patients by inclusion of post-treatment data, in particular minimal residual disease (MRD) after the initiation cycle of induction chemotherapy.