| pubmed-article:7723279 | pubmed:abstractText | Autologous bone marrow transplantation is increasingly being used in the management of several types of cancer, and to avoid reintroduction of malignant cells, bone marrow purging is often performed. In such cases, sensitive quantitation methods are needed both to assess the efficacy of the purging and for surveillance of patients in remission. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has the necessary sensitivity for this application, but it requires that the cancer cells can be recognized by a defined genetic abnormality. In addition, PCR is in principle a qualitative technique and must be modified for quantitative purposes. In follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, the translocation t(14;18) (q32;q21) is common and is used here for model experiments. | lld:pubmed |
