Assessing Measurable Residual Disease in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. BCR-ABL1 IS in the Avant-Garde of Molecular HematologyResearch Paper, September 23, 2019 / Lorand Gabriel Parajdi

Published in Frontiers in Oncology, Hematologic Malignancies 9, 863, DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00863, 2019.

  The full paper is available on Frontiers in Oncology, Hematologic Malignancies website:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2019.00863/fulland the supplementary material is available at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2019.00863/full#supplementary-material

Authors: Vlad Moisoiu¹, Patric Teodorescu^1,2, Lorand Parajdi³, Sergiu Pasca¹, Mihnea Zdrenghea¹, Delia Dima², Radu Precup³, Ciprian Tomuleasa^2,4 and Simona Soverini⁵

¹ Department of Hematology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ² Department of Hematology, “Ion Chiricuță” Clinical Research Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ³ Department of Mathematics, “Babeș-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ⁴ Department of Hematology, Research Center for Functional Genomics and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ⁵ Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Institute of Hematology L. and A. Seràgnoli, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Abstract: Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a malignancy of the myeloid cell lineage characterized by a recurrent chromosomal abnormality: the Philadelphia chromosome, which results from the reciprocal translocation of the chromosomes 9 and 22. The Philadelphia chromosome contains a fusion gene called BCR-ABL1. The BCR-ABL1 codes for an aberrantly functioning tyrosine kinase that drives the malignant proliferation of the founding clone. The advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) represents a landmark in the treatment of CML, that has led to tremendous improvement in the remission and survival rates. Since the introduction of imatinib, the first TKI, several other TKI have been approved that further broadened the arsenal against CML. Patients treated with TKIs require sensitive monitoring of BCR-ABL1 transcripts with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCT), which has become an essential part of managing patients with CML. In this review, we discuss the importance of the BCR-ABL1 assay, and we highlight the growing importance of BCR-ABL1 dynamics. We also introduce a mathematical correction for the BCR-ABL1 assay that could help homogenizing the use of the ABL1 as a control gene. Finally, we discuss the growing body of evidence concerning treatment-free remission. Along with the continuous improvement in the therapeutic arsenal against CML, the molecular monitoring of CML represents the avant-garde in the struggle to make CML a curable disease.

Keywords: Chronic myeloid leukemia; Mathematical modeling; BCR-ABL; IS; Treatment free remission.

Cite As:  Moisoiu V, Teodorescu P, Parajdi L, Pasca S, Zdrenghea M, Dima D, Precup R, Tomuleasa C and Soverini S (2019) Assessing measurable residual disease in chronic myeloid leukemia. BCR-ABL1 IS in the avant-garde of molecular hematology. Front. Oncol. 9:863. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00863

This article was awarded by UEFISCDI.gov in the competition “The Awards of the Research Results Published in 2019” (PRECISI 2019). For the results see: https://uefiscdi.gov.ro/resource-823937-precisi_2019_lista-17

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