Minimal residual disease detection with tumor-specific CD160 correlates with event-free survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract

In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) correlates with outcome in the trial setting. However, MRD assessment does not guide routine clinical management and its assessment remains complex. We incorporated detection of the B cell, tumor-specific antigen CD160 to develop a single-tube, flow cytometry assay (CD160FCA) for CLL MRD to a threshold of 10-4 to 10 - 5. One hundred and eighty-seven patients treated for CLL were enrolled. Utilizing the CD160FCA methodology, there was a high level of comparison between blood and bone marrow (R = 0.87, P