According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society nearly 1.3 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. They indicate blood cancers are the third leading cancer killer in the United States with a new blood cancer being diagnosed every three minutes. With these staggering statistics it is important to raise awareness and promote advocacy for additional clinical research to combat this disease and significantly reduce the number of people nationwide affected by such a diagnosis.
There are five main groups of blood and lymphatics cancers which include:
- Leukemia – blood/bone marrow cancer (the most common blood cancer in children and teens)
- Lymphoma – immune system/lymphatics cancer
- Myeloma – white blood cell/plasma cell cancer
- Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) – diseases affecting the blood/bone marrow
- Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPNS) – an abnormality initially present in the stem cells of the bone marrow
Unfortunately there is no screening tool available for early detection of blood cancers and no way to prevent them from developing at this time according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which is why clinical research funding is so important.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s website states they have invested $46 million in clinical research during fiscal year 2018 in an effort to save lives. The website talks about the Therapy Accelerator Program which is a funding program further described as “TAP funding assists both clinical investigators and companies in gaining critical clinical proof of concept data that better enables them to obtain the resources they need or a partner to complete the testing, registration and marketing of new treatments, supportive care and diagnostics for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.”
For more information about the TAP program or news on the latest advancements and research being done in the area of Leukemia and Lymphoma, please visit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website.
If you are interested in getting involved in future advocacy efforts, please click here.