By Emma A John
MRD stands for Minimal Residual Disease. Those individuals who run a high risk of a cancer relapse should chose to test for this disease before it is allowed a chance for these cancerous cells to grow and cause damage. The early detection of minimal residual disease is significant against offsetting and decreasing the risk of a relapse in cancer patients, and leukemia patients in particular. The minimal residual disease is a post treatment condition mostly found in leukemic patients when the cancer relapses a few days, weeks or months later; despite the patient undergoing effective and cohesive treatments.
This results when a few cancer cells are left behind in the body and they continue to grow. About a decade ago, the severity of this disease was inevitable in most of the leukemia patients as there was no technology available that could detect these cells from the cluster of normal cells in the body. But today, with the implementation of highly sensitive microbiological tests, it is now possible to identify even a single cancerous cell.
This detection has given the medical professionals a chance to treat the cancer cells to decrease the risk of a relapse and increase the survival chances of the patients. Getting tested for MRD at the earliest stage helps the patients in buying time for effective personalized treatment plans which help in completely eradicating these cells from the body, or at least lower their count to a safe level, according to their case requirement.
Other than simply detecting the left behind cancerous cells in the patient's body, minimal residual disease tests are also very effective in detecting and identifying tumors at their earliest stage of development. These tests have played a vital role in:
1. Helping professionals in successfully tracing cancer cells in the body and removing them
2. Comparing the effectiveness of different treatments used by the healthcare providers
4. Gauging and calculating the risk of recurrence
5. Selecting the best treatment available as an alternative or designing a personalized treatment plan
The tissue samples taken from the patients are studied by the professionals conducting these tests. They also examine the protein, RNA and the DNA to find out more about the minimal residual disease. However, these tests are not offered at regular clinics or medical facilities and laboratories. In fact, there are special leukemia centers where the medical professionals carry out these tests on patients. To get further information about these tests, patients can discuss minimal residual disease with their oncologists or the facilities offering leukemia treatment.
To learn more about MRD or Minimal Residual Disease please visit http://www.minimalresidualdisease.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_A_John
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