Sponsor Outcomes of Measurable Residual Disease in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia before and after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: Validation of Difference from Normal Flow Cytometry with Chimerism Studies and Wilms Tumor 1 Gene Expression.

We enrolled 150 patients in a prospective multicenter study of children with acute myeloid leukemia undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to compare the detection of measurable residual disease (MRD) by a "difference from normal" flow cytometry (ΔN) approach with assessment of Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) gene expression without access to the diagnostic specimen. Prospective analysis of the specimens using this approach showed that 23% of patients screened for HSCT had detectable residual disease by ΔN (.04% to 53%). Of those patients who proceeded to transplant as being in morphologic remission, 10 had detectable disease (.04% to 14%) by ΔN. The disease-free survival of this group was 10% (0 to 35%) compared with 55% (46% to 64%, P < .001) for those without disease. The ΔN assay was validated using the post-HSCT specimen by sorting abnormal or suspicious cells to confirm recipient or donor origin by chimerism studies. All 15 patients who had confi...