Bone marrow CD34+molecular chimerism as an early predictor of relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

BackgroundMinimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring is an important tool to optimally address post-transplant management of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the impact of bone marrow CD34+ molecular chimerism and WT1 on the outcome of a consecutive series of 168 AML patients submitted to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. ResultsThe cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) was significantly lower in patients with donor chimerism on CD34+ cells >= 97.5% and WT1 < 213 copies/ABL x 10 boolean AND 4 both at 1(st) month (p=0.008 and p<0.001) and at 3(rd) month (p<0.001 for both). By combining chimerism and WT1 at 3(rd) month, 13 patients with chimerism < 97.5% or WT1 > 213 showed intermediate prognosis. 12 of these patients fell in this category because of molecular chimerism < 97.5% at a time-point in which WT1 was < 213. ConclusionsOur results confirm that lineage-specific molecular chimerism and WT1 after allo-SCT (1(st) and 3(rd) month) are useful MRD markers. When considered together at 3(rd) month, CD34+ molecular chimerism could represent an earlier predictor of relapse compared to WT1. Further studies are necessary to confirm this preliminary observation.