IQN Path PD-L1 digital educational resource for EQA
IQN Path is working on setting up a new project to support quality of PDL1 testing. The goal of the project, is to establish a high quality education resource for self-assessment of pathologists on PD-L1 scoring. Digital slides stained with the four different FDA approved tests (from both Agilent and Roche) will be available to view.
The digital platform is for pathologists and scientists to log-in, view and self-test their skills on high quality reference material that is presented in a consistent manner. The portal will start with lung cancer but we hope over time it will be extended to other disease areas.
For further information read the News section by clicking here.
The third IQN Path In-situ Methods working group meeting
On Friday 1st September, prior to the European Congress of Pathology meeting, IQN Path held its 3rd In-situ Methods working group face to face meeting.
A major focus of the In-Situ Methods Working Group meeting was on the progress of the IQN Path PD-L1 digital educational portal, a concept that was born out of a discussion in the previous group meeting from the observation that the same digital slides presented to pathologists and often contain variability in the readout of the IHC test result.
Additional topics discussed were the interaction between ISO and External Quality Assessment, challenges for the application of ISO17043 to IHC-based schemes and the importance for reference materials for the EQA providers to run schemes as well as for laboratories as positive and negative controls.
For more information read the News section found here.
Quality in Pathology – IQN Path ASBL initiates a journal special issue
Virchows Archiv is launching a special section entitled “Quality in Pathology” following a successful approach from IQN Path ASBL. This section will include publications relating to quality issues in pathology and will also provide a vehicle to collate papers and interesting articles related to External Quality Assessment in Pathology and other topics that touch on quality.
For more information read the News section found here.
IQN Path Booth @ ECP 2017, Amsterdam
IQN Path will have a booth this year at the European Congress of Pathology (ECP) 2017. Please come by to find out more about what we do, we look forward to seeing you there!”
Slide-based molecular methods (IHC) working group, European Congress of Pathology (ECP), Friday September 1 2017
“The IQN Path Slide-based molecular methods (IHC) working group will plan to meet once again during the ECP meeting, taking place in Amsterdam this year.
The working group meeting shall take place on Friday 1st September 2017 the afternoon before the congress opens.
IQN Path cfDNA workshop: Florence 23rd June 2017
On the 23rd of June IQN Path organised the first IQN Path workshop on circulating free DNA testing. This meeting was held in the beautiful town of Florence, Italy. The meeting had over 100 registrants and drew attendees from 23 different countries in total demonstrating the importance and interest in the topic of quality for cfDNA testing.
This one day workshop entitled “From sample collection to clinical integration of the results – ensuring end to end quality “, was divided into educational sessions on different topics relating to the details of cfDNA testing and a breakout session in the afternoon with delegate participation.
In the educational session, in-depth technical topics covered ranged from blood drawing and collection tubes, cfDNA extraction methods, methodologies for cfDNA testing, current clinical applications, and introduction to quality processes and the importance of quality, and the initial results of the IQN Path pilot for cfDNA that had been organised by UK NEQAS Molecular Genetics, EMQN, ESP EQA and AIOM under the umbrella of IQN Path.
There was also a series of talks from companies describing new tools and technologies available in the field. Talks were given by Biocartis, Seracare, Qiagen, Horizon and ThermoFisher Scientific.
Publications resulting from this work shall be submitted to peer reviewed journals, including a consensus report on cfDNA testing drawing on the main themes and discussions from the ctDNA workshop.
The slides presented at the workshop can be found below:
Introduction to Liquid Biopsies – Rachel Butler. Download here
ctDNA Extraction Methods – Ed Schurring. Download Here
Why is Quality Important – Els Dequeker. Download Here
Current Clinical Applicatinos of Liquid Biopsy- Nicola Normanno. Download Here
The Importance of Cell Free DNA Reference Materials – Ruth Mayes. Download Here
Circulating Cell-Free DNA Pre-analytics: Importance of ccfDNA Stabilization and Extraction for Liquid Biopsy Applications – Martin Schlumpberger, Download Here
Diagnostic Reference Materials and Controls – Jonathan Frampton. Download Here
Advancing Liquid Biopsy with NGS Solutions – Thomas Bittick. Download Here
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our both the sponsors of the cfDNA workshop and the sponsors of the cfDNA pilot for helping us to create this event a successful and educational day.
Many thanks to the EQA providers UK NEQAS, EMQN, AIOM and the ESP EQA for all their hard word in delivering the joint IQN Path ctDNA pilot and in preparing and delivering the workshop and many thanks to the IQN Path staff helped to organise the event.
6th Meeting on External Quality Assessment in Molecular Pathology – Naples 2017
For the sixth consecutive year, representatives of the stakeholders involved in promoting accurate diagnostic testing in pathology for effective anti-cancer drug selection gathered in the second weekend of May 2017, in Naples, Italy.
Stakeholders present at the 6th External Quality Assessment (EQA) meeting included pathologists, molecular biologists, geneticists, quality managers, medical oncologists, representatives of the pharmaceutical companies, vendors of controls and standards for diagnostic methods and equipment and representation from EFPIA/EBE (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations /European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises).
The 2017 meeting not only celebrated its sixth anniversary, but also the 2nd Annual General Meeting of IQN Path ASBL, a new organisation that brings all stakeholders together who are involvement EQA. The meeting had a good attendance of EQA providers from around the world and also from companies, some participants flying in from as far away as Vancouver and San Francisco, demonstrating the enthusiasm amongst the participants for both the content of the meeting and the desire to tackle these challenging issues. Many ideas for new projects were put forward and IQN Path will seek to prioritise these proposals and support the start up of new project proposals
The Roche/IQN Path 2017 Education Meeting
“IQN Path brought together industry professionals with expertise in the FDA-approved Roche PD-L1 assays, and EQA members in an educational forum. The purpose of this meeting was to:
- Recognise the complexity of the current processes and pre-empt potential problems
- Train EQA members about the specifics of the Roche PD-L1 assays and their assessment using experts from the device manufacturer who could present the approved methods to perform and interpret the PD-L1 assays; and give advice on avoiding these problems
- Give EQA providers the opportunity to ask questions, raise issues, and provide feedback on recent or new EQA rounds involving PD-L1 testing
A meeting was held in Spain in February 2017 including delegates from Europe, China and the USA who represented companies across diagnostics. Topics included case reviews and assays, as well as good practice and potential pitfalls related to PD-L1 testing.
