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Multicenter Study
. 2019 Sep;95(9):1008-1018.
doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.23844. Epub 2019 Jul 31.

Standardization of Flow Cytometric Immunophenotyping for Hematological Malignancies: The FranceFlow Group Experience

Françoise Solly  1   2 , Fanny Angelot-Delettre  3   4 , Michel Ticchioni  5 , Franck Geneviève  6 , Hubert Rambaud  6 , Lucile Baseggio  7 , Adriana Plesa  7 , Agathe Debliquis  8 , Francine Garnache-Ottou  3   4 , Anne Roggy  3 , Lydia Campos  1 , Carmen Aanei  1 , Alessandra Rosenthal-Allieri  5 , Marie-Thérèse Georget  9 , Sébastien Lachot  9 , Marie-Christine Jacob  10 , Nelly Robillard  11 , Soraya Wuilleme  11 , Elisabeth Andre-Kerneis  12 , Edouard Cornet  13 , Véronique Salaun  14 , Hind Bennami  15 , Anne-Catherine Lhoumeau  16 , Christine Arnoulet  17 , Hugues Jacqmin  18 , Nicolas Neyman  18 , Véronique Latger-Cannard  19 , Fredéric Massin  19 , Elodie Lainey  20 , Magali Le Garff-Tavernier  21 , Myrto Costopoulos  21   22 , Mickael Roussel  23 , Caroline Mayeur-Rousse  24 , Alice Eischen  24 , Victoria Raggeneau  25 , Coralie Derrieux  26 , Maxime Maurer  27 , Vahid Asnafi  28   29 , Amélie Trinquand  28   29 , Chantal Brouzes  28   29 , Ludovic Lhermitte  28   29
Affiliations
Free article
Multicenter Study

Standardization of Flow Cytometric Immunophenotyping for Hematological Malignancies: The FranceFlow Group Experience

Françoise Solly et al. Cytometry A. 2019 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Flow cytometry is broadly used for the identification, characterization, and monitoring of hematological malignancies. However, the use of clinical flow cytometry is restricted by its lack of reproducibility across multiple centers. Since 2006, the EuroFlow consortium has been developing a standardized procedure detailing the whole process from instrument settings to data analysis. The FranceFlow group was created in 2010 with the intention to educate participating centers in France about the standardized instrument setting protocol (SOP) developed by the EuroFlow consortium and to organise several rounds of quality controls (QCs) in order to evaluate the feasibility of its application and its results. Here, we report the 5 year experience of the FranceFlow group and the results of the seven QCs of 23 instruments, involving up to 19 centers, in France and in Belgium. The FranceFlow group demonstrates that both the distribution and applicability of the SOP have been successful. Intercenter reproducibility was evaluated using both normal and pathological blood samples. Coefficients of variation (CVs) across the centers were <7% for the percentages of cell subsets and <30% for the median fluorescence intensities (MFIs) of the markers tested. Intracenter reproducibility provided similar results with CVs of <3% for the percentages of the majority of cell subsets, and CVs of <20% for the MFI values for the majority of markers. Altogether, the FranceFlow group show that the 19 participating labs might be considered as one unique laboratory with 23 identical flow cytometers able to reproduce identical results. Therefore, SOP significantly improves reproducibility of clinical flow in hematology and opens new avenues by providing a robust companion diagnostic tool for clinical trials in hematology. © 2019 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Keywords: FranceFlow; flow cytometry; hematology; immunophenotyping; instrument settings; quality controls; standardization.

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References

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