Novartis - Corporate satellite Round Table Discussion on PNH 

Date: Thursday 26 September 2024
Time: During the lunch break
Maximum 20 places available. Pre-registration required. Fully booked

ESCCA Industrial Partner Presentations (IPP) are scheduled as plenary session in the programme.

WEDNESDAY 25 September

15:30-16:00 - Sysmex Europe

Speaker: Danielle White
Senior Clinical Scientist and Specialist Haemostasis at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Title: Beyond Aggregation: Exploring Platelet Function with Flow Cytometry Analysis

Inherited platelet function defects (PFD) are among the most common inherited bleeding disorders and expose patients to bleeding risks when presented with haemostatic challenges. Currently, light transmission aggregometry is the most widely utilised method to assess platelet function. However, it does not allow for an in-depth phenotypical evaluation of platelet glycoprotein expression and has been shown to have a low sensitivity for mild PFD. In contrast, flow cytometry (FCM) can be applied to assess both glycoprotein expression and the reactivity of platelets to stimuli using platelet activation markers. FCM is also increasingly being used to assess platelet activation in real time, which can provide insights into platelet activation kinetics and aid in the diagnosis of mild PFD.

ThURSDAY 26 september

11:15-11:45 - Beckman Coulter

Title: Ebb and Flow: Balancing Workload and staff happiness in the Lab

Speaker: Alan Dunlop, UK

Year on year clinical flow cytometry laboratories see an increase in not only sample numbers but in the complexity of testing required. There is a similar increase in the volume of quality related tasks required to ensure laboratories maintain accreditation.

This increased workload rarely comes with appropriate resource meaning staff are constantly under pressure to do more in the same number of hours. In an attempt to deal with this rising tide of work our laboratory has undertaken a complete overhaul of the way we function, we have implemented new high parameter flow cytometers, fully automated sample preparation for leukaemia and lymphoma diagnostic testing as well as stem cell enumeration. With the implementation of a new laboratory information system we have become paper free. This along with offline data analysis has allowed us to facilitate effective remote work at times for over 60% of our staff. This transformation of the way we work has allowed us to focus on developing our next generation of Scientists by training then in data analysis, challenging them with research projects and involving them in quality tasks when previously simply delivering our clinical service was a challenge.

15:15-15:45 - Cytek Biosciences

Title: Streamlining AML-MRD Analysis: A 21-Color Antibody Panel Engineered For Use On The Cytek Northern Lights™-CLC Flow Cytometer

Speaker: Dr. Nicholas McCarthy, HCPC Registered Clinical Scientist, Clinical Immunology Service, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Testing for measurable residual disease (MRD) using multi-color flow cytometry allows deeper response assessment than morphology and the opportunity for pre-emptive detection of relapse in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Sensitive MRD detection relies on combinatorial antigen screening for low frequency populations and acquisition of a high number of cells, both of which are limited by lower-parameter multi-tube flow assays.

Using Full Spectrum Profiling™ (FSP™) technology, we were able to combine the fifteen markers from our previously validated 3-tube 8-color MRD assay into a single tube. Moreover, additional markers were incorporated to create a new 21-color antibody panel to be analyzed using the Cytek Northern Lights-CLC platform. The 21-color panel includes the ELN core markers: CD34, CD117, CD33, CD13, HLADR, CD56, CD7, CD45, a viability dye, together with potentially useful markers for leukemic stem cells and monocytic MRD: CD38, CD45RA, CLL1, CD123, CD133, CD19, CD11b, CD14, CD64, CD36, CD4 and CD15. We have carefully assessed the performance of this new 21-color panel and compared it to our standard, 8-marker 3-tube MRD panel. Our data shows concordant results, higher resolution for some markers, and the added benefit of further exploration of additional antigens and co-expression patterns.

In this presentation, we will discuss strategies for validating a highly multiparametric spectral flow cytometry assay for clinical use, including the selection of optimal unmixing controls and improvement of resolution by autofluorescence extraction. Importantly, we will demonstrate that autofluorescence extraction improves resolution of abnormal cell populations. We will also discuss how this 21-color panel allows robust in-depth interrogation of MRD samples.

In summary, we found that the optimization and validation of this 21-color AML-MRD panel was straightforward and led to improved data quality. We demonstrate that Full Spectrum Profiling of AML-MRD samples using the Cytek Northern Lights-CLC has the potential to increase laboratory efficiency as well as improve MRD test quality and sensitivity, thus enhancing reproducible MRD interpretation.

BD

Attend our FLOW Talks, during lunch and coffee breaks, and get inspired by impactful 15 minutes talks led by experts in the field. You will learn about current and future hot topics in flow cytometry and beyond:

• • The interplay between the immune system and haematological malignancies
  • The future of clinical flow cytometry – from deep insights to clinical standardisation
  • The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosis

For an overview of the sessions, please click here

Select the topic(s) you are interested in to receive a notification with detailed information when registrations open (pre-registration required, places are limited)