Comparation of Digital PCR and Quantitative Pcr for Molecular Monitorization of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients

Introduction: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a neoplasm produced by the formation of the BCRABLfusion gene. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have changed dramatically the clinical course of the disease. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is the reference technique for measuring response in CML patients. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is, in brief, a technology based on partitioning of the sample in a high number of small fractions which, in a further step, are read as positive or negative by its fluorescence. ddPCR performs an absolute quantification of the number of transcripts and their results do not depend on PCR efficiency. In spite of these theoretical advantages over qPCR, ddPCR is not routinely applied for BCRABLmonitoring. In this study, we sought to compare qPCR and ddPCR techniques in similar amplification conditions.