Flow Cytometry Programmes

All of these programmes use stabilised blood products. The samples you will receive are stabilised using a patented procedure and will remain stable up to 1 year at between +2 and +8 degrees C. Please store any samples at this temperature until testing but allow the samples to reach ambient temperature before staining.

Because the material is stabilised some minor adjustments may be required to the Forward Scatter (FSc) and Side Scatter (SSc) Photo Multiplier Tube (PMT) voltages. This is normal and does not affect the staining characteristics. Owing to the stabilisation process, the cells are not viable. UK NEQAS LI therefore recommends that viability dyes are either not used or, if used, all cells are included in the viable cells gate. In addition, the stabilisation process allows for haemoglobin to leach out of the red blood cells. As a result of this the samples may have a haemolysed appearance. This is normal and the samples can be tested.

Do not be concerned if the haematology profile on these samples does not give a valid differential. This is due to the stabilisation process. These samples have been developed to give the optimum performance using “flow cytometric” assays and have been used in these EQA programmes for over fifteen years.

****NEW FOR 2026-2027***

Pilot CD19 CAR-T Cell Monitoring by Flow Cytometry Programme 

Following two successful pre-pilot studies, the CD19 CAR-T Cell Monitoring by Flow Cytometry External Quality Assessment programme will be available for registration in 2026-2027. The programme will assess participants' ability to detect CART19 positive cells in a peripheral blood background. There will be a limited number of registrations in the new programme for the initial launch year. See the website for details of how to register your interest. 

Changes to the Leukaemia lmmunophenotyping and Leukaemia Diagnostic Interpretation Programmes

In 2026-2027, we plan to separate the Leukaemia lmmunophenotyping (LI) and Leukaemia Diagnostic Interpretation (LDI) programmes, so that the same case that has been used in LI does not need to be used in LDI. This will allow us to provide a wider variety of clinical scenarios to better reflect the range of cases laboratories are seeing. Please note, for a minority of cases where there is specific educational value, we may still send out the same case for both programmes. We will also be asking for participants to provide an approximate diagnosis (e.g. chronic/acute, myeloid/lymphoid) and information around further testing that they would recommend following testing in the LI programme, for educational purposes. 
 

Webinar Plans 

To promote the changes to the LI and LDI programmes we will be hosting a webinar in March 2026. This will focus on how leukaemia diagnosis is changing in the light of greater scientific understanding and technological advances. We will discuss how the UK NEQAS LI programmes are evolving to support this.

 
Development of the Immune Monitoring Programme 

As part of our commitment to developing the EQA programmes provided by this centre we are in the process of developing the Immune Monitoring Programme to incorporate a wider selection of tests. Any further updates will be communicated to participants. 
 

Trial Schedule 
We're pleased to confirm that we will be returning to the full number of trial distributions in 2026-2027. We appreciate your patience during this time. Please see the website for the trial schedule. 

* denotes changes to the programme in 2026/2027

Please see programme specific pages on our website for further details.