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• MRD is part of routine testing in the treatment of pediatric and adult ALL. Studies show that MRD can predict the effectiveness of a given treatment after the induction phase of ALL treatment.

• Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) MRDS is a collection of reports describing metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources throughout the world. Included are deposit name, location, commodity, deposit description, geologic characteristics, production, reserves, resources, and references. It subsumes the original MRDS and MAS/MILS.

• MRD refers to cancer cells remaining after treatment that can’t be detected by those same scans or tests. But what exactly does it mean for patients? To learn more about minimal residual disease, we spoke with leukemia specialist Ghayas Issa, M.D., of MD Anderson’s Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Moon Shot® team.

What is MRD? Minimal residual disease (MRD) is the name given to small numbers of cancer cells from the bone marrow that remain in the person during treatment, or after treatment when the patient is in remission. It is the major cause of relapse in blood cancers, including multiple myeloma and leukemia.

Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) MRDS is a collection of reports describing metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources throughout the world.

MRD testing has several important roles: determining whether treatment has eradicated the myeloma or whether traces remain, comparing the efficacy of different treatments, monitoring patient remission status as well as detecting recurrence of the myeloma, and choosing the treatment that will best meet those needs.

This term is used often by physicians when treating patients with blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma. MRD refers to cancer cells remaining after treatment that can’t be detected by those same scans or tests. But what exactly does it mean for patients?