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Simple methods for the rapid exchange of flow cytometric data between remote centers

Leukemia volume 14, pages 336–337 (2000)Cite this article

The flow cytometric analysis of cellular immunophenotypes and DNA content has become indispensable in the modern classification of leukemia and lymphoma. The multiple applications of this technology include determination of the lineage association of malignant cells, assessment of their clonality, identification of prognostic indicators and monitoring of minimal residual disease.123

Methods for cell separation, staining and analysis are becoming increasingly uniform,456 but there is still considerable debate on critical issues such as the optimal markers for disease classification, usefulness of isotype-matched control antibodies and setting of cut-off points to determine positivity (as an example, see the discussion that followed the paper by Bene et al7). The achievement of broad consensus may be, at least in part, hindered by the difficulty of precisely communicating gating procedures, measurements of staining intensity and criteria for establishing percentage of positive cells. Thus, results obtained in different centers are often difficult to compare and to reproduce. This problem is particularly relevant to collaborative multicenter studies, which require uniform classification criteria and could benefit from mutual or centralized review of data. Centers that have relatively new flow cytometric capabilities would also clearly benefit from timely monitoring of their results by more experienced investigators.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Jose A Galindo, Gustavo Lara, Andrew Pappas and James Houston for their help in developing the connection between the two medical centers. This work was supported by grants RO1-CA60419 and P30-CA21765 from the National Cancer Institute, and by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Patologia y Citometria de Flujo, Guatemala City, Guatemala

    R Lorenzana

  2. Department of Hematology-Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    E Coustan-Smith, RC Ribeiro & D Campana

  3. International Outreach Program, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    F Antillon & RC Ribeiro

  4. Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee, College of Medicine, Memphis, TN, USA

    RC Ribeiro & D Campana

  5. Department of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    D Campana

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  1. R Lorenzana
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Lorenzana, R., Coustan-Smith, E., Antillon, F. et al. Simple methods for the rapid exchange of flow cytometric data between remote centers. Leukemia 14, 336–337 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401612

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