Engraftment and Measurable Residual Disease Monitoring after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Chimerism testing supports the study of engraftment and measurable residual disease (MRD) in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. In chimerism MRD, relapse can be predicted by increasing mixed chimerism of recipient allele (Δ) ≥0.1% in peripheral blood, proliferating recipient cells as a surrogate of tumor activity. Conventionally, the combination of two chimerism methods, short-tandem repeat (STR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR), was needed to ensure assay sensitivity and accuracy in all chimerism status.