Product Education

clonoSEQ Measurable Residual Disease (MRD)

The clonoSEQ Assay MRD video provides patients and caregivers with a basic understanding of measurable residual disease (MRD) and why it is important to quantify and monitor MRD throughout the patient treatment continuum. 

The clonoSEQ® Assay is a highly accurate, sensitive and standardized method for detecting and quantifying MRD, or measurable residual disease, in lymphoid malignancies such as myeloma, ALL, CLL and NHL. Watch this video to learn more about clonoSEQ and how it can be used by clinicians to assess and monitor a patient’s disease burden over time.

Additional educational materials are available online at clonoSEQ.com.

Full Transcript

MRD minimal or measurable residual disease refers to the small number of cancer cells that can remain in a patient’s body after treatment and eventually cause recurrence of the disease.

These residual cells are present at such low levels that they typically cause no signs or symptoms and often require more sensitive technologies to be detected. Thanks to NGS, or next-generation DNA sequencing, residual disease can be precisely measured. The clonoSEQ assay from Adaptive Biotechnologies is powered by NGS technology offering unrivaled accuracy and sensitivity for MRD assessment.

By testing a small blood or bone marrow sample roughly one-fifth the amount required by other detection methods, the clonoSEQ assay offers insights into how therapy has affected disease burden. Residual cells may go undiscovered if they are below standard levels of detection. With a sensitivity 10 to 100 times greater than conventional detection methods clonoSEQ can identify residual cells earlier. By detecting the DNA sequences associated with individual T or b-cell receptors.

Once identified by clonoSEQ the sequences can be routinely monitored with a sensitivity limited only by the amount of DNA analyzed. clonoSEQ tracks the sequences throughout treatment and in remission allowing clinicians to monitor a patient’s disease burden over time. Follow-up samples are tested to measure the presence of each previously identified dominant DNA sequence, detect any newly emerging sequences of interest, and assess the efficacy of treatment.

The findings are organized into an easy-to-use clonoSEQ report complete with a visual snapshot of disease burden over time. clonoSEQ empowers clinicians to predict and monitor treatment outcomes and detect recurrence sooner. That’s why clinicians are looking to clonoSEQ as a new accepted standard for assessing MRD status.

clonoSEQ Brochure

The clonoSEQ® Assay is a highly accurate and sensitive method for detecting and quantifying MRD, or measurable residual disease, in lymphoid malignancies. MRD refers to the small number of cancer cells that can remain in a patient’s body after treatment and may eventually cause recurrence of the disease.

clonoSEQ leverages the power of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) and offers a standardized, proven way to determine how treatment has impacted disease.[1]

It can help clinicians to:

  • PREDICT long-term outcomes [2]
  • ASSESS treatment response [3]
  • MONITOR remission status [4]
  • DETECT relapse early[5]

    clonoSEQ Brochure


  1. Sherrod AM, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2015;51:2-12.
  2. Pulsipher M, et al. Blood. 2015;125(22):3501-8.
  3. Korde N, et al. JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(6):746-54.
  4. Martinez-Lopez J, et al. Blood. 2014;123(20):3073-3079.
  5. Pulsipher M, et al. Blood. 2015;125(22):3501-8.