Estudio de la enfermedad mínima residual en el ćncer infantil

Abstract

The study of minimal residual disease (MRD) in different childhood cancers has acquired a great importance in the last years for the detection and following up of patients with a high risk of relapse and the consequent long term poor prognosis. There are different techniques for MRD detection and quantification, depending on the tumor type: flow cytometry, immunocytology and biomolecular procedures -as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR)-. This work reviews the different techniques used to identify the MRD during and after treatment of childhood acute leukemia, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma, and their usefulness as prognostic factors.