Welcome on the website www.EuroClonality.org   On this website, professionals on BIOMED-2 immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangements in lymphoproliferations suspicious for lymphoma, meet. The diagnosis of malignant lymphoma is a recognized difficult area in histopathology. The detection of clonality in suspected lymphoproliferations is a valuable supplementary tool, as in principle B- and T-cell lymphomas are clonal diseases. In a European BIOMED-2 collaborative study, multiplex PCR assays have successfully been developed and standardized for the detection of clonally rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) genes. The detection rate of clonal rearrangements using the BIOMED-2 primer sets is unprecedentedly high. The BIOMED-2 clonality assays are now widely used for detection of clonality in lymphoproliferative disorders.

EuroClonality

EuroClonality is the name of a European consortium for the development of novel PCR-based methods that allow detection of gene rearrangements, particularly immunoglobulin (IG) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements, to be used for discrimination between normal (polyclonal) and abnormal/ malignant (monoclonal) lymphoproliferations in order to support the accurate and reliable diagnosis and follow-up of hematologic malignancies, particularly lymphoid malignancies. This particularly concerns the development, standardization and clinical evaluation of novel PCR primers and combinations of multiple PCR primers (multiplex PCR tubes) for detection of the different types of IG/TCR gene rearrangements as well as the design of novel methods for fast and automated analysis of the obtained PCR products in order to assess whether the obtained PCR products are diverse (polyclonal) or whether they are at least in part identical, corresponding with normal (polyclonal) lymphocytes or abnormal/malignant (monoclonal) lymphocytes, respectively.

The EuroClonality group supports and advises other diagnostic laboratories in their diagnostic work on the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with hematological malignancies, as performed with the above described PCR methods. The support is given by a panel of experts via the EuroClonality website: SUPPORT

About the main focus of the EuroClonality group: Educational activities for Ig/TCR clonality testing. Yearly, the Euroclonality workshop: “Clonality assessment in Pathology”, is given in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Information on the workshop is provided on the website: WORKSHOP. In addition, workshops “on site” are given. Quality control and development of guidelines for performance and evaluation of diagnostic clonality testing. Quality control rounds for clonality assessment are performed within the EuroClonality group. The aim of these QCs is not only quality control of the laboratory, but also to come to a uniform scoring of the gene rearrangement profiles, which will result in recommendations for scoring and interpretation of clonality data.  We expect to dissemination of the recommendations in 2012. Application of new developments/methodologies in heamato-oncology and clonality assessment.

About BIOMED-2 Concerted Action BMH4-CT98-3936 and MEMBERS of EuroClonality: The consortium started as BIOMED-2 study group  and now continues collaboration under the name EuroClonality.  The professionals who participated in the original BIOMED-2 study group (BIOMED-2: PCR-based clonality studies) are now MEMBERS of the EuroClonality group. It is thus not possible to become a member of the EuroClonality group. In term, however, we will consider the possibility to widen our activities, especially the quality control round, and make it accessible for a broader public.