Hello, Dr. Nair:
After reading the article posted in the Myeloma Beacon, 'Velcade-Thalidomide-Dexamethasone Therapy After Stem Cell Transplant Improves Response In Multiple Myeloma Patients', which mentions PCR testing, I was curious what your thoughts are about the significance of 'molecular remission'. Are negative results via PCR necessary for determining complete remission?
Thank you for all you do!
Sean Murray
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Re: PCR & Molecular Remission
Mr. Murray: At the current time, we do not use PCR routinely to define remission. Complete remission is still based on bone marrow, serum, blood test, and at our center PET and MRI.
There are some studies that have used PCR to define molecular remission and found it to be a very useful method. The main hurdle in making it more widely available is that it is very labor intensive and expensive. We have to create a probe that is specific to each patient, and then monitor for minimal residual disease using this probe. It is not very widely available in clinics at this time.
There are some studies that have used PCR to define molecular remission and found it to be a very useful method. The main hurdle in making it more widely available is that it is very labor intensive and expensive. We have to create a probe that is specific to each patient, and then monitor for minimal residual disease using this probe. It is not very widely available in clinics at this time.
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Dr. Bijay Nair - Name: Bijay Prabhakaran Nair, M.D.
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