Ten-year progress report of the International Cell Exchange

For the past 10 years, the International Cell Exchange has been a useful tool for testing rare and unusual HLA antigens and monitoring the progress in detection of recognized specificities. Of special interest are the antigens proposed in the 8th Workshop - 8w57, 8w58, 8w59, and 8w66. Marked improvement could be seen in the detection of 8w59 (29%) and 8w66 (31%). Possible new variants of the A9 and A10 complexes were tested in several exchanges. As shown by the increasing yearly average percentages of detection, laboratories are improving in their ability to type Aw23, Aw24, A25, A26, A29; Bw39, Bw41, Bw54, Bw55, Bw57, Bw58, Bw60 and Bw62. Over 90% of the laboratories are now able to detect Aw24; B5, B17, and B40, and A29 has attained the status of being well defined.