Lymphoid Gene Panels (Pilot - Not Accredited)

Programme objective To assess a laboratory’s ability to accurately determine genetic status in lymphoid malignancies, using high throughput sequencing methods.

Clinical/scientific background Lymphoid malignancies represent a heterogenous group of disorders with many overlapping biological and genetic features. Genomic data is becoming increasingly important to distinguish and classify these disorders. It is becoming deeply embedded in all aspects of patient management, providing important diagnostic and prognostic information initially and markers for measurable residual disease testing (MRD) post treatment. The increasing importance of genomic data has been acknowledged in the recent WHO5 guidelines¹.

High throughput sequencing methods have steadily evolved in recent years to allow the development of large lymphoid panels necessitating external quality assessment (EQA)/proficiency testing (PT) in this area. Initially this programme was launched as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia specific programme; however, from 2022/23 the programme was expanded to encompass a broader range of lymphoid neoplasms including for example, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, plasma cell dyscrasia (subject to sample material availability) to reflect the application of NGS panel testing to evermore lymphoid malignancies.

Suitability Any high throughput sequencing panel-based approach for the evaluation of genetic status in lymphoid malignancies.

Sample type/distribution One lyophilised cell based (cell line or patient) sample is issued twice per annum, plus additional samples e.g. DNA in tris-EDTA, where appropriate. Clinical scenarios are included with trial samples to guide panel/bioinformatic analysis. The trial schedule can be found here: https://www.ukneqasli.co.uk/eqa-pt-programmes/trial-schedules/

Trial duration Standardly trials for this programme are live/open for a minimum of 6 weeks. Please note, trials issued/closing in August or December are extended by 1 week.

Subcontracted areas Pre-issue and post-closure testing of samples for this programme are subcontracted, although the final decision about sample suitability lies with the EQA provider; no other activities in relation to this EQA programme are subcontracted.

Updates to the programme for current or upcoming year To facilitate a quicker turnaround time for trial report publication, one distribution will focus on summarising the variants detected by participants (including methodological aspects) and the other will additionally provide educational elements related to variant interpretation/classification.

References

1. Alaggio, R., Amador, C., Anagnostopoulos, I. et al. The 5th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours: Lymphoid Neoplasms. Leukemia 36, 1720–1748 (2022).

To register for this programme, please click here.