Minimal Residual Disease in Breast Cancer: In Blood Veritas

Minimal residual disease in breast cancer: in blood veritas.

A blood-based molecular test might direct recommendations for systemic therapies in patients with early-stage breast cancer undergoing surgery with curative intent. A new study suggests that droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) can be used to detect cancer-specific DNA alterations in plasma with sensitivity suitable for monitoring minimal residual disease.

Minimal residual disease in melanoma.

A number of specific genes encoding for melanosomal proteins are selectively expressed in melanocytes and melanomas. For detection of circulating melanoma cells, the expression of the tyrosinase gene is most widely used. Several cohorts of melanoma patients from single institutions have been analyzed by various research groups for the presence of circulating melanoma cells in all stages of dise...

Minimal residual disease in autologous hematopoietic harvests from breast cancer patients.

The increasing use of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous hematopoietic transplantation for the treatment of solid malignancies has raised concern about the role of tumor cells contaminating the grafts. Minimal residual disease (MRD) in autologous grafts has became a dynamic and intensively studied field in oncology. This review discusses the current status of MRD in breast cancer autografts...

Treatment of Minimal Residual Disease in Breast Cancer: A Longitudinal Case Study

The presence of micrometastatic disease will ultimately determine the breast cancer-specific mortality of patients treated according to current guidelines. Minimal residual disease (i.e., occult tumor, not detected by conventional tests) may exist in two forms: a dormant form of only micrometastasis and a more aggressive "awakened" form where CTCs (circulating tumor cells) are actively dissemin...

Minimal residual disease in pediatric ALL