Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) represents about 15% of all leukemias and has three phases: the chronic phase, accelerated phase and blast crisis. After cytogenetic analysis, the Philadelphia chromosome, characteristic of CML, can be identificated. Stem cell transplantation is the only curative treatment for CML, but it is accompanied by high levels of morbimortality, difficulting its application. The minimal residual disease is very important for the evaluation of the response to treatment, to verify the residual disease and also to identify patients with a high risk of relapse. Many specific techniques have been introduced for the detection of translocations or products of the Philadelphia chromosome; the most sensitive being Real-Time PCR which detects 1 leukemia cell in 10(5) normal cells. The aim of this study was to perform a bibliographic review of CML, with emphasis on the utilization of the Real-Time PCR technique.
Chronic myeloid leukemia; Minimal residual disease; Real-Time PCR