Measurable residual disease (MRD) is rising in popularity as a prognostic indicator in a variety of blood cancer types. We spoke to Fabio Guolo, MD, of the University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, at the 23rd congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2018, held in Stockholm, Sweden, about his experience of using MRD for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He gives an overview of the predictive benefits of MRD in pre-transplant patients with both low- and high-risk AML, as well as the pros and cons of using flow cytometry vs. next-generation sequencing to detect MRD. Finally, Dr Guolo describes how MRD gives a better definition of complete response than morphological prognostic indicators.
