Minimal Residual Disease Testing:
What Does it Mean?
T
he goal in treating myeloma is to cure the patient or achieve longterm remission. But there is always the chance that some myeloma cells remain, despite the patient being in complete remission. One test that may indicate that myeloma is not completely eradicated is to check for what doctors call minimum residual disease (MRD). “MRD testing detects myeloma cells on a much more sensitive level inside the bone marrow,” Carolina Schinke, M.D., said. “MRD is a hot topic right now in the scientific myeloma community.” During treatment, all myeloma patients at UAMS undergo testing for
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minimal residual disease with results being either positive for the disease or negative. The Myeloma Center uses two types of MRD testing — flow cytometry and next generation sequencing. With flow cytometry, a laser light beam measures physical and chemical characteristics of cells. The test studies the difference in the proteins on the surface of a cell to distinguish regular plasma cells from myelomatous plasma cells. The Myeloma Center began MRD testing in early 2014. It is conducting a study with the flow cytometry tests and is still gathering data. “The flow cytometry can detect one myeloma cell in 100,000 cells which
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