23EL-818 On-Demand eCast: Monoclonal Antibodies and Their Interference with Immunohematology Testing

Live Program Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Program Number: 22EL-818

Educational Track: Technical/Clinical
Topic: Blood Donation & Collection, Patient Transfusion
Intended Audience: Directors, Facilities that perform molecular testing, Hospital Blood Banks, Hospitals, Immunohematology Reference Labs (IRL’s), Laboratory Staff, Managers/Supervisors, Medical Directors, Nurses, Physicians, Research Scientists, Residents/Fellows, Students (MD, MT, SBB), Technologists, Transfusion Safety Officers
Teaching Level: Advanced, Intermediate

Faculty
(titles and affiliations at the time of the live program)
Director/Moderator: Huy P. Pham, MD, MPH, Medical Director and Adjunct Professor of Medicine, National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), Seattle, WA
Speakers: Randall W. Velliquette, SBB(ASCP)^CM, Technical Director, Immunohematology, New York Blood Center Enterprises, New York, NY; Lance A. Williams III, MD, Medical Director Therapeutic Apheresis, Staff Physician in Transfusion Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ

Program Description
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies are increasingly being used in the treatment of patients with a variety of conditions including malignancy, infection, and inflammatory diseases. The interference caused by monoclonal antibodies in clinical laboratory testing is an emerging concern that requires both recognition and the development of appropriate solutions to mitigate. For example, anti-CD38 and anti-CD47 can cause interference in with routine pre-transfusion testing in the blood bank and thus, might affect the turn-around time in identification of possible alloantibodies and potential delay in compatibility testing for patients requiring blood transfusion. Therefore, it is essential for transfusion services to be aware of such therapy being administered to patients and to develop solutions to overcome this interference to enhance patient safety. This program will provide an introduction to monoclonal antibody therapy, especially ones that may cause interference in serological testing. The interference in blood bank testing caused by these drugs will be described, along with possible solutions to overcome the interference using currently available techniques. Finally, examples of how transfusion services handle such challenges in conjunction with the clinical service will be reviewed.

Learning Objectives
After participating in this educational activity, participants should be able to:

• Review different monoclonal antibodies that may have interference with immunohematology testing and their clinical indications.
• Compare and contrast serologic reactivity observed in testing samples from patients receiving various monoclonal antibody therapies. 
• Discuss current mitigation strategies to overcome therapeutic anti-CD38 and anti-CD47 interference in pretransfusion testing.
• Provide examples of protocols on how transfusion services handle such challenges to provide patients with the best products possible, while also accounting for inventory challenges.

How to Claim Continuing Education Credit

• Single Viewers: if you registered as a single viewer, complete the evaluation found on the "CE Information" tab after watching the video. By submitting the evaluation, you are attesting to watching the presentation in its entirety.

• Group Viewers: This is applicable for groups/facilities that purchased Group Viewing access for this program (registration will be verified prior to processing a group viewing attendance log). Group Viewing Coordinators should submit the attendance log to eLearning@aabb.org within 72 hours of the completion/viewing date. Once AABB receives an attendance log, each participant on the attendance log will be granted access as a single viewer to this program and will be required to complete the evaluation in order to claim continuing education credit. Each participant will be required to have an AABB account in order to access this program/platform. If a participant does not have an account, he/she can create one using the same email address provided on the attendance log.