Droplet Digital PCR: A New Technology for Detection and Quantification of Chimerism After Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Abstract

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is today an established cure for many malignant and non-malignant hematological disorders. The post-allo-SCT monitoring is very important in the engraftment phase to detect graft failure, but also in the following of post-SCT to detect the risk of disease relapse in malignant disease. The quantification of chimerism is the determination of the proportion of donor cells in recipient blood after allo-SCT. Currently, two complementary molecular biology techniques, STR PCR and qPCR methods, are routinely performed in laboratories.