Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network

Teresa Webb-Martin, medical technologist in the molecular diagnostics laboratory at MPLN, co-authored a recent abstract entitled Results of an International Study of Quantitative BCR/ABL Assays Using Defined RNA Samples.

Though quantitative BCR/ABL assays are performed in hundreds of laboratories worldwide for clinical management of patients with BCR/ABL-positive CML and ALL, results among these laboratories cannot be reliably compared due to heterogeneity in test methods, data analysis, reporting, and lack of quantitative standards.

During the study, which looked at assay standardization, aliquots of RNA were sent to clinical test centers worldwide to evaluate methods and reporting for e1a2, b2a2, and b3a2 transcript levels using their own qRT-PCR assays. Laboratories performed five independent qRT-PCR reactions for each sample type at each serial log dilution provided. Participants were asked to run the samples following their standard protocols and to report cycle threshold (C_t), quantitative values for BCR/ABL and housekeeping genes, and ratios of BCR/ABL to housekeeping genes for each sample RNA.

Details of the study are described in the abstract, which will be presented at the 52^nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December.