Routine evaluation of minimal residual disease in myeloma using next-generation sequencing clonality testing – feasibility, challenges and direct comparison with high sensitivity flow cytometry

The 2016 International Myeloma Working Group consensus recommendations emphasize the importance of high sensitivity methods for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection, treatment response assessment and prognostication. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of IGH gene rearrangements is highly specific and sensitive, but its description in routine clinical practice and performance comparison with high sensitivity flow cytometry (hsFC) remain limited. In this large single institution study including 438 samples from 251 patients, we describe our use of NGS targeting the IGH and IGK genes for clonal characterization and monitoring, with comparison to hsFC.
Source: Journal of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Pathology Authors: Source Type: research