The success of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) in children with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is mainly affected by relapse. The role of additional immunotherapy for pediatric patients with MDS relapsing after allo-BMT remains to be established. Because immunotherapy is generally more effective for patients who bear a low tumor burden, monitoring of minimal residual diseases (MRD) is essential for early diagnosis at molecular relapse. We report here that a patient with relapsed MDS after allo-BMT was successfully treated by the rapid discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy at molecular relapse while monitoring Wilms tumor (WT1) gene expression levels. Quantitative analysis of WT1 gene expression appeared to be a useful tool to monitor MRD in the present case.
2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.