Many groups have found that data analysis alone results in high variation in flow cytometry data. Recently, the CFAR supported efforts found similar variation when labs analyzed data following their own methods. However, when laboratories followed an analysis guideline the variation was much improved. This study was the first to provide guidelines on how to gate data that led to alignment of results across 110 laboratories. The authors also noted that within a single laboratory training on how to analyze flow data varied as much as the methods used to analyze flow data.
FlowPET was conceived to address the need for flow cytometry training. FlowPET aims to improve the quality of flow cytometry immune monitoring assays by:
- Promoting best practices for standardized analysis
- Providing high quality resources for technical training in analysis
Broad use of FlowPET will lead to better quality of results generated within institutions, better comparability of results generate across institutions, higher trust in published flow cytometry data, and increased adoption of flow cytometry assays in immune monitoring.
FlowPET is a collaborative project, by and for the flow cytometry community, and participation in FlowPET is open to the community. The FlowPET Core Team includes members of the Duke CFAR Immunology Core, Duke CFAR BCB Core, and leaders from the Association of Cancer Immunotherapy Cancer Immunoguiding Program (CIP) and Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium immune harmonization program. The FlowPET Core Team assembled a Leadership Committee that includes 34 experts in the field of flow cytometry, 27 of whom participated in innaugural FlowPET teleconference on March 6th 2014. The concept of FlowPET was initiated during the 2013 Annual Duke CFAR Flow Cytometry Workshop as a collaboration between Duke CFAR and the leaders of the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium (CIC).