QUANTITATIVE PCR OF THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN HEAVY-CHAIN GENE USING GENOMICDNA

Techniques currently available enable the detection of clonal rearrang ements of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene using fluorescent PCR te chnology. It is possible to use this technique to analyse minimal resi dual disease throughout patient treatment; however, without the develo pment of a quantitative assay, only the presence or absence of a clona l population can be determined. We describe hem the development of a q uantitative competitive PCR technique using genomic DNA which enables the rate of clearance of disease to be measured. In future, the abilit y to detect and also quantitate minimal residual disease may enhance t he application of molecular investigations in the clinical management of patients.