Measurement of Residual Leukemia during Remission in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Complete remission of B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has traditionally been defined as the near absence of lymphoblasts in a light-microscopical examination of stained bone marrow smears, but a patient in remission may still harbor up to 10¹⁰ leukemia cells. We investigated whether there is a relation between the outcome of treatment and submicroscopic evidence of residual disease.