Mejstríková E, Hrusak O, Borowitz MJ, Whitlock JA, Brethon B, Trippett TM, Zugmaier G, Gore L, von Stackelberg A, Locatelli F. Blood Cancer Journal. 2017 Dec 20;7(12):659. doi: 10.1038/s41408-017-0023-x. IF: 8.125
MUDr. Ester Mejstříková, Ph.D., Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology
CD19-negative relapse in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is observed as an infrequent event after chemotherapy and in up to 20% of patients after CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy. Patients with CD19-negative relapse usually have a poor prognosis. The mechanisms underlying CD19-negative relapse are not fully understood but are important to elucidate to further optimize CD19-directed immunotherapies. Monitoring blasts in patients with CD19-negative relapse by flow cytometry is challenging due to the lack of cell surface markers other than CD19 that are consistently expressed. Furthermore, CD19 is often used as a parameter to quantify minimal residual disease (MRD) and diagnose relapse. Potential markers to monitor persistent or recurrent leukemic blasts in an emergent CD19-negative blast population include B-cell lineage antigens (CD20, CD22, CD24, and intracellular [i]CD79a) and the common ALL antigen CD10.
