Molecular Haemato-oncology

If you have chosen to participate in any Molecular Haemato-oncology EQA programme except Chimerism you will receive a lyophilised cell-line/patient sample preparation for molecular analysis. Instructions for storage, reconstitution and use of the lyophilised sample will be included with the sample. Prior to reconstitution, the lyophilised cells are stable at ambient temperature however, once the cells are reconstituted they should be processed immediately.

Please note- all lyophilised samples provided within these programmes are for EQA purposes only.

If you have chosen to participate in the Chimerism programme (and in some circumstances Ig/TCR clonality trials) you will currently receive fresh blood samples. Upon receipt, these samples should be processed immediately to prevent any degradation of the DNA.

***New for 2023-2024***

As part of the continuous development of our EQA/PT provision we will be introducing several updates to our molecular haemato-oncology programmes in 2023-2024.

We will be launching a new programme, Measurable Residual Disease for Lymphoid Neoplasms by Molecular Methods (Pilot – Not Accredited) to assess laboratories’ ability to accurately detect and quantify MRD using next generation sequencing of the Immunoglobin genes.

Changes to the Measurable Residual Disease for AML by Molecular Methods Programme - Following several publications highlighting the importance of the detection of FLT3 ITD MRD in acute myeloid leukaemia, we will be including FLT3 MRD samples in the MRD for AML by Molecular Methods (Pilot – Not Accredited) programme.

Additional programme updates:

• We are pleased to announce that the BCR::ABL1 Minor Quantification programme has now been accredited to ISO 17043:2010 and in 2023-2024 will increase to three distributions of two samples per annum with performance monitoring being applied.
• As in 2022-2023, we will continue to include samples carrying alternative myeloid rearrangements, alongside the core rearrangements standardly included within the repertoire of the BCR::ABL1 and AML Translocation Identification programme. We aim to issue two additional educational samples across the 2023/2024 registration period. Each will feature either a pathogenic rearrangement associated with AML or an alternative BCR::ABL1 Translocation variant. Testing of the educational samples will be optional.

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

* denotes changes to the programme in 2023/2024