Minimal Residual Disease and Leukemic Stem Cells in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. With current treatment strategies, almost 80% of AML patients (18-60 years) will achieve com‐ plete remission (CR). However, approximately 50% of these patients will experience a re‐ lapse, resulting in a five-year survival rate of only 35%-40% [1]. This implies that despite CR, in these patients a number of cancer cells survive treatment and can grow out to cause a re‐ lapse. Efforts towards development of more sensitive methods to accurately determine CR and detect residual cancer cells are necessary to improve risk-adapted management to even‐ tually prolong overall survival rates.