A significant body of literature has been generated related to the detection of measurable residual disease (MRD) at the time of achieving complete remission (CR) in patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL). However, due to the indolent nature of the disease as well as reports suggesting long-term survival in patients treated with a single course of a nucleoside analog albeit without evidence of cure, the merits of detection of MRD and attempts to eradicate it have been debated. Studies utilizing novel strategies in the relapse setting have demonstrated the utility of achieving CR with undetectable MRD (uMRD) in prolonging the duration of remission. Several assays including immunohistochemical analysis of bone marrow specimens, multi-parameter flow cytometry and molecular assays to detect the mutant BRAF V600E gene or the consensus primer for the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IGH) rearrangement have been utilized with few comparative studies. Here we provide a consensus report on the available data, the potential merits of MRD assessment in the front-line and relapse settings and recommendations on future role of MRD assessment in HCL.
关于毛细胞白血病(HCL)患者在达到完全缓解(CR)时检测可测量残留病(MRD)的相关文献已积累了大量研究成果。然而,由于该疾病呈惰性病程,且有报告显示患者经单疗程核苷类似物治疗后虽无法证实治愈却仍能获得长期生存,因此检测MRD及尝试清除MRD的意义一直存在争议。在复发治疗背景下采用新策略的研究表明,实现不可检测MRD(uMRD)的完全缓解对延长缓解期具有积极作用。目前应用的检测方法包括骨髓样本免疫组化分析、多参数流式细胞术以及检测突变BRAF V600E基因或免疫球蛋白重链基因(IGH)重排共识引物的分子检测,但这些方法间的比较研究仍较为有限。本文旨在整合现有数据,探讨一线治疗及复发场景中MRD评估的潜在价值,并就MRD评估在HCL未来诊疗中的作用提出共识建议。