Should Undetectable Minimal Residual Disease Be the Goal of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Therapy?

Abstract

With the advent of highly effective novel therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, conventional response assessment is not able to sensitively capture depth of response. To achieve a more precise assessment of response, minimal residual disease has been introduced to more accurately classify and quantify treatment outcomes. It is now considered a strong predictor of outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, although its interpretation depends on the therapeutic context. This review discusses available methods of minimal residual disease measurement. It summarizes minimal residual disease data from pivotal clinical trials and discusses potential implications for future studies and minimal residual disease-based clinical strategies.

Keywords: CLL; Chemoimmunotherapy; Chronic lymphocytic leukemia; Fixed-duration therapy; MRD; Minimal residual disease; Targeted agents.