Is It Time To Take Mrd More Seriously? Relationship Between Mrd, Functional Cure And Life Expectancy Among Patients With Ph- B Cell Precursor All (Bcp-All)

Background: Although BCP-ALL patients can achieve complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy, about 40% of them have residual leukemia cells in the bone marrow which is called minimal residual disease (MRD). Complete MRD response is defined as lack of MRD with an assay sensitivity of >= 10-4, which, if sustained for more than five years, may be regarded as a functional cure for ALL. On the contrary, presence of MRD is a signal of high risk of relapse leading to poor health outcomes. Blinatumomab is the only drug approved for BCP-ALL patients with MRD based on the results from BLAST, a single-arm phase 2 study conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of blinatumomab in adult BCP-ALL patients in CR with MRD. Currently, there is limited evidence on the relationship between MRD response and functional cure in ALL and life years gained.