Patients with acute leukemia have a total of approx 1012 leukemic cells at the time of diagnosis, and still have as many as 1010 leukemic cells in complete remission. The most important problem in the treatment of leukemia patients is the uncertainty of whether leukemic cells have been totally eradicated when complete remission has been achieved. Through accurate assessment of a small number of leukemic cells (minimal residual disease [MRD]) that still remained in complete remission (1 ), individual patients will be able to be treated with different protocols based on the extent of the MRD, resulting in improvement of cure rates.
