Monitoring of minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia: methods and best applications.

Posttherapy minimal residual disease assessment in acute myeloid leukemia is an important prognostic indicator as well as a potential early surrogate measure of therapeutic effectiveness. The goal of this brief review is to discuss the broad classes of targets for molecular diagnostic assays, with specific examples of each, and to describe the analytic approach to flow cytometry testing for minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia. Several of the most significant recent contributions to this field are highlighted.