cancers Review Eradication of Measurable Residual Disease in AML: A Challenging Clinical Goal Paolo Bernasconi 1,2,* and Oscar Borsani 1 1 Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
[email protected] 2 Hematology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy * Correspondence:
[email protected] Simple Summary: Relapse is still a major problem in AML because it occurs in about 60–80% of patients, even those who have previously achieved complete remission (CR), defined by the presence of ≤5% bone marrow (BM) leukemic cells. Thus, since CR is unable to predict the relapse risk, significantly more sensitive techniques aimed at identifying AML cells in BM or peripheral blood, a parameter termed measurable residual disease (MRD), have been developed. Among them, RT-qPCR, which analyses appropriate molecular markers, and multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC), which analyses aberrantly expressed antigens, have been identified as the methods of choice for MRD detec- tion. Nowadays, various studies that assessed MRD by these techniques have provided compelling evidence that MRD positivity (MRD+) after standard induction/consolidation chemotherapy and before allo-HSCT is predictive of a very poor clinical outcome. In addition, other studies, which showed that MRD+ clearance even at late time points of the course of the disease may improve the disease clinical outcome, have further strengthened the relevance of MRD+. Thus, a complete MRD eradication, potentially attainable