Annals of Laboratory Medicine

Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine (대한진단검사의학회)
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Current Status of Flow Cytometric Immunophenotyping of Hematolymphoid Neoplasms in Korea

  • Mikyoung Park (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Jihyang Lim (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Ari Ahn (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Eun-Jee Oh (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Jaewoo Song (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kyeong-Hee Kim (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dong-A University Hospital, College of Medicine, Dong-A University) ;
  • Jin-Yeong Han (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dong-A University Hospital, College of Medicine, Dong-A University) ;
  • Hyun-Woo Choi (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School) ;
  • Joo-Heon Park (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School) ;
  • Kyung-Hwa Shin (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine) ;
  • Hyerim Kim (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine) ;
  • Miyoung Kim (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine) ;
  • Sang-Hyun Hwang (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine) ;
  • Hyun-Young Kim (Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine) ;
  • Duck Cho (Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine) ;
  • Eun-Suk Kang (Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine)
  • Received : 2023.07.28
  • Accepted : 2023.12.08
  • Published : 2024.05.01
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Abstract

Background: Flow cytometric immunophenotyping of hematolymphoid neoplasms (FCI-HLN) is essential for diagnosis, classification, and minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. FCI-HLN is typically performed using in-house protocols, raising the need for standardization. Therefore, we surveyed the current status of FCI-HLN in Korea to obtain fundamental data for quality improvement and standardization. Methods: Eight university hospitals actively conducting FCI-HLN participated in our survey. We analyzed responses to a questionnaire that included inquiries regarding test items, reagent antibodies (RAs), fluorophores, sample amounts (SAs), reagent antibody amounts (RAAs), acquisition cell number (ACN), isotype control (IC) usage, positive/negative criteria, and reporting. Results: Most hospitals used acute HLN, chronic HLN, plasma cell neoplasm (PCN), and MRD panels. The numbers of RAs were heterogeneous, with a maximum of 32, 26, 12, 14, and 10 antibodies used for acute HLN, chronic HLN, PCN, ALL-MRD, and multiple myeloma-MRD, respectively. The number of fluorophores ranged from 4 to 10. RAs, SAs, RAAs, and ACN were diverse. Most hospitals used a positive criterion of 20%, whereas one used 10% for acute and chronic HLN panels. Five hospitals used ICs for the negative criterion. Positive/negative assignments, percentages, and general opinions were commonly reported. In MRD reporting, the limit of detection and lower limit of quantification were included. Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive study on the current status of FCI-HLN in Korea, confirming the high heterogeneity and complexity of FCI-HLN practices. Standardization of FCI-HLN is urgently needed. The findings provide a reference for establishing standard FCI-HLN guidelines.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was conducted with the support of the Research Fund (LMF 2021-02) from the Laboratory Medicine Foundation in Korea.

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