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Fast PCR-based quantitative detection of B-cell malignancies
C Vandenvelde1, R Scheen, P Fondu
1Virology Department, Brugmann University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
Available methods for the detection of minimal residual disease in hematologic malignancies are limited by their poor sensitivity and/or complexity. In order to avoid these drawbacks, we used the fast PCR technique to amplify the hypervariable chain-determining region 3 (CDR 3) of the human immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene in boiled marrow nucleated cells. This enabled us to detect malignant B-cells down to a dilution of 1 in 1,300 marrow nucleated cells within 7 hours of sampling. This new quantitative method should be useful for monitoring therapy and detecting early disease relapse in B-lymphoproliferative disease since it is 10 to 60 times as sensitive as Southern blotting.
Available methods for the detection of minimal residual disease in hematologic malignancies are limited by their poor sensitivity and/or complexity. In order to avoid these drawbacks, we used the fast PCR technique to amplify the hypervariable chain-determining region 3 (CDR 3) of the human immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene in boiled marrow nucleated cells. This enabled us to detect malignant B-cells down to a dilution of 1 in 1,300 marrow nucleated cells within 7 hours of sampling. This new quantitative method should be useful for monitoring therapy and detecting early disease relapse in B-lymphoproliferative disease since it is 10 to 60 times as sensitive as Southern blotting.