Ultrasensitive chimerism enhances measurable residual disease testing after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

ABSTRACT: Increasing mixed chimerism (reemerging recipient cells) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) can indicate relapse, the leading factor determining mortality in blood malignancies. Most clinical chimerism tests have limited sensitivity and are primarily designed to monitor engraftment. We developed a panel of quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays using TaqMan chemistry capable of quantifying chimerism in the order of 1 in a million. At such analytic sensitivity, we hypothesized that it could inform on relapse risk. As a proof-of-concept, we applied our panel to a retrospective cohort of patients with acute leukemia who underwent allo-HCT with known outcomes. Recipient cells in bone marrow aspirates (BMAs) remained detectable in 97.8% of tested samples. Absolute r

SUBMITTER: Kanaan SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10582300 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature