Haematologica Reports 2005; 1(issue 2): 24-29
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?Minimal residual disease following chemoimmunotherapy
for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic
leukemia
?Andreas Engert, Holger Schultz , Thomas
Elter
?Klinik 1 für Innere Medizin, Universität zu Köln,
Köln, Germany
?The goal of therapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic
leukemia (CLL) is, whenever feasible, to induce sustained long-term
complete remissions (CR). However, in most instances, patients in
CR relapse after varying periods of progression-free survival
(PFS). A number of studies have shown that patients, in whom
detectable residual disease has been eradicated, have a longer
duration of PFS than those in whom residual disease remains after
treatment,1-4 especially when minimal residual disease
(MRD) is measured using sensitive methods such as gated four-color
flow cytometry (MRD Flow) or allele-specific oligonucleotide
polymerase chain reaction (ASO-PCR).5
This article first reviews fludarabine-based chemotherapeutic
regimens and immunotherapy with alemtuzumab. The rationale for the
treatment of CLL with fludarabine plus alemtuzumab combination
therapy is then discussed, followed by a review of the results
obtained to date, particularly the capacity of this therapeutic
approach to induce molecular remissions and long-lasting clinical
responses. [>Read full article in PDF]
