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Measurement of BCR ‐ ABL 1 by RT ‐ qPCR in chronic myeloid leukaemia: findings from an International EQA Programme
Author(s) -
Scott Stuart,
Travis Debbie,
Whitby Liam,
Bainbridge John,
Cross Nicholas C. P.,
Barnett David
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/bjh.14557
Subject(s) - medicine , comparability , external quality assessment , myeloid leukemia , oncology , medical physics , pathology , mathematics , combinatorics
Summary Sequential measurement of BCR ‐ ABL 1 mRNA levels by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) is embedded in the management of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia ( CML ), and has played an important role in the remarkable improvement in patient outcomes seen in this disease. As a provider of external quality assessment ( EQA ) in this area, UK NEQAS for Leucocyte Immunophenotyping ( UKNEQAS LI ) has a unique perspective on the changing face of BCR ‐ ABL 1 testing in CML . To assess the impact of technical standardisation and the development of the International Scale ( IS ) upon the accuracy of BCR ‐ ABL 1 testing, we reviewed EQA trial data from 2007 to 2015. Comparison of participant results identified considerable variability at both high and low levels of disease, including therapeutically important decision points; however, results converted to the IS showed less variability compared to unconverted data sets. We also found that different methods of converting to the IS produce consistently different median results within UKNEQAS LI IS data sets. This data suggests that whilst the development of the IS has improved the comparability of results between centres, there is still the need for further improvement in the processes of converting raw results to the IS in order to fully realise the benefits of molecular monitoring of CML .