Leukemia Stem Cell-Based Method Aids Relapse Prediction in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

FRIDAY, Aug. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- An assay that uses leukemia stem cells (LSCs) to assess measurable residual disease (MRD) outperforms traditional methods in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study published online Aug. 23 in Bone Marrow Transplantation.Si-Qi Li, from the Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, and colleagues assessed the ability of the LSC-based method and the traditional multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) assay to predict leukemia relapse after long-term follow-up. The analysis included 360 patients with AML who received allografts between July 2018 and November 2019.The researchers found that patients with positive MRD based on CD34+CD38−cocktail+ LSCs (≥0.004 percent) had a greater five-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR; 49.7 versus 8.5 percent), inferior leukemia-free survival (LFS; 48.2 versus 84.4 percent), and inferior overall survival (OS; 59.7 versus 82.8 percent) versus patients without CD34+CD38−cocktail+ LSCs (<0.004 percent). Patients with detectable traditional MFC-MRD also had a greater CIR than patients without MRD (45.8 versus 10.9 percent), resulting in decreased LFS (54.2 versus 81.9 percent) and decreased OS (56.0 versus 85.9 percent). The LSC-based MRD assay had good performance, with high sensitivity (52.4 versus 33.3 percent), a high C-index (0.72 versus 0.65), and high Youden index (0.44 versus. 0.27), compared with traditional MFC-MRD. The median time from LSC positivity to relapse was longer compared with traditional MRD positivity to relapse (144 versus 65 days)."The results reported by other researchers and from our long-term follow-up study provide further evidence that the LSC-based MRD assay should be recommended for relapse prediction in patients with AML," the authors write.Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required).Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Leukemia Stem Cell-Based Method Aids Relapse Prediction in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

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