Certain combinations of differentiation antigens are expressed on leukemia blasts and are absent or extremely rare among normal progenitors in the fetal liver and fetal and regenerating bone marrow. These combinations include cCD3/TdT, a thymic feature retained on thymic-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) blasts outside the thymus, and the coexpression of TdT and myeloid markers (CD13, CD33) ...

Even with the most sophisticated chemotherapy regimens, the majority of patients with acute myeloid leukemia will eventually experience a relapse and die from their disease. New treatments are needed to prevent relapse of disease in these patients. Immunotherapy using the host immune system to combat leukemia represents an exciting and potentially efficacious addition to standard chemotherapy f...

In children with acute leukaemia, measurements of minimal residual disease (MRD) provide unique information on treatment response and have become a crucial component of contemporary treatment protocols. In acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most useful MRD assays are based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of antigen-receptor genes, and on flow cytometric detection of abnor...

MRD diagnostics during the first three months of treatment has proven to be of high value in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), because of its potential to recognize subgroups that differ substantially in outcome. Consequently, MRD diagnostics is now being used for treatment intervention, both treatment intensification (including stem cell transplantation) and treatment reduction. Ho...