EuroFlow

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EuroFlow is a research group focused on improving and standardizing flow cytometry to better diagnose blood cancers and tailor treatments. It started in 2005 as the 2U-FP6 funded project and began in spring 2006. Initially, it brought together 18 diagnostic research groups and two small/medium enterprises from eight European countries, combining expertise in flow cytometry and immunophenotyping. In 2012 the two SMEs left, and EuroFlow became fully scientifically independent.

Immunophenotyping—staining cells with antibodies linked to fluorescent dyes and reading them with a flow cytometer—has been a key diagnostic method since the 1990s. It is fast, can measure many parameters at once, and helps focus on malignant cells. However, standardization across labs was a problem: different antibody clones, dyes, and sample preparations made results hard to compare, and the method depended a lot on lab expertise.

EuroFlow aimed to fix this by setting clear goals. It developed eight-color panels for diagnosing, classifying, and following haematological malignancies. Each panel includes a screening tube plus additional tubes for more detail. The panels were built on existing knowledge but extensively tested and optimized across many centers, with careful choices of fluorochromes and standardized instrument settings and procedures.

They tested antibody clones, fluorochromes, and reagents from different suppliers to find reliable combinations. They also created new software capable of analyzing complex multicolor data and comparing normal and patient samples. In addition, EuroFlow developed new antibody clones against specific protein epitopes involved in chromosomal translocations to detect common fusion proteins in acute leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia, and they introduced immunobead assays to detect fusion proteins.