In 2002, the European Competence Network on Mastocytosis (ECNM) was launched as a multidisciplinary collaborative initiative to increase the awareness and to improve diagnosis and management of patients with mast cell (MC) disorders. The ECNM consists of a net of specialized centers, expert physicians, and scientists who dedicate their work to MC diseases. One essential aim of the ECNM is to timely distribute all available information about the disease to patients, doctors, and scientists. In the past 20 years, the ECNM has expanded substantially and contributed successfully to the development of new diagnostic concepts, and to the classification, prognostication, and treatments of patients with mastocytosis and MC activation disorders. The ECNM also organized annual meetings and several working conferences, thereby supporting the development of the World Health Organization classification between 2002 and 2022. In addition, the ECNM established a robust and rapidly expanding patient registry and supported the development of new prognostic scoring systems and new treatment approaches. In all projects, ECNM representatives collaborated closely with their U.S. colleagues, various patient organizations, and other scientific networks. Finally, ECNM members have started several collaborations with industrial partners, leading to the preclinical development and clinical testing of KIT-targeting drugs in systemic mastocytosis, and some of these drugs received licensing approval in recent years. All these networking activities and collaborations have strengthened the ECNM and supported our efforts to increase awareness of MC disorders and to improve diagnosis, prognostication, and therapy in patients.

Allergy Unit Verona University Hospital Verona Italy

Department of Allergology Medical University of Gdansk Gdansk Poland

Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein Technical University of Munich Munich Germany

Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre Odense University Hospital Odense Denmark

Department of Dermatology Venereology and Allergology Medical University of Gdansk Gdansk Poland

Department of Dermatology Venereology and Allergology Medical University of Gdansk Poland and Invicta Fertility and Reproductive Center Molecular Laboratory Sopot Poland

Department of Hematological Biology Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital Pierre et Marie Curie University Paris France

Department of Hematology and Oncology University Hospital Mannheim Mannheim Germany

Department of Hematology University Hospital Groningen University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands

Department of Internal Medicine 1 Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Hematology and Oncology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Department of Internal Medicine 1 Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Hematology and Oncology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department University Clinic for Companion Animals and Horses University Clinic for Small Animals Internal Medicine Small Animals University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Austria

Department of Internal Medicine Division of Allergology University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands

Department of Internal Medicine Hematology and Oncology University Hospital Brno and Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Medical Sciences Uppsala University and Section of Hematology Uppsala University Hospital Uppsala Sweden

Department of Medicine Solna and Mastocytosis Centre Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital Stockholm Sweden; Department of Medical Sciences Uppsala University and Section of Hematology Uppsala University Hospital Uppsala Sweden

Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge Stockholm Sweden; Department of Medicine Solna Division of Immunology and Allergy Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology University of Salerno Salerno Italy

Division of Allergy Department of Dermatology University Hospital Basel and University of Basel Basel Switzerland; Department of Biomedicine University Hospital Basel and University of Basel Basel Switzerland

Division of Hematology Istanbul Medical School University of Istanbul Istanbul Turkey

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Department of Immunology Allergology Rheumatology University of Antwerp and Antwerp University Hospital Antwerp Belgium

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's Hospital London UK

Institute of Allergology Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health Berlin Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP Allergology and Immunology Berlin Germany

Institute of Pathology Ludwig Maximilians University Munich Germany

Institute of Pathology University Hospital Salzburg Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg Austria

Instituto de Estudios de Mastocitosis de Castilla La Mancha and CIBERONC Hospital Virgen del Valle Toledo Spain

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Hematology and Oncology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria; MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory Munich Germany

Section of Hematology Multidisciplinary Outpatients Clinics for Mastocytosis Department of Medicine University Hospital of Verona Verona Italy

Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary

Service d'Hématologie Imagine Institute Université de Paris INSERM U1163 Centre National de Référence des Mastocytoses Hôpital Necker Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris Paris France

Servicio Central de Citometria Centro de Investigacion del Cancer CIBERONC and Department of Medicine University of Salamanca Salamanca Spain

St John's Institute of Dermatology Guy's Hospital London UK

References provided by Crossref.org

Prognostic impact of expression of CD2, CD25, and/or CD30 in/on mast cells in systemic mastocytosis: a registry study of the European Competence Network on Mastocytosis