Leukaemia Foundation to host virtual seminars for National MPN Awareness Day today

Thursday September 10, 2020

Australians living with the rare blood cancer Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) will today be able to connect through a new virtual seminar being hosted by the Leukaemia Foundation as part of National MPN Awareness Day.

Working in partnership with MPN Alliance Australia, the free live seminar will include four speakers from Monash University, The University of Western Australia, Cancer Council Queensland and a patient advocate from Sydney.

Leukaemia Foundation Acting CEO Alex Struthers encouraged those Australians and their families living with MPN to sign up to the free live event and unite with other Australians experiencing the blood disorder.

“This event will be streamed live, enabling attendees to gather together virtually to hear some of the latest insights into the disease to better inform their diagnosis and treatment, and break down some of the barriers they may face in accessing this information,” Ms Struthers said.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are cancers that start in the bone marrow, where blood cells are made. In MPN, the bone marrow makes too many of one or more types of blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells and/or platelets). These cells change the thickness of the blood. They also crowd the bone marrow and then it can’t make enough healthy blood cells.

There are seven types of MPN, diagnosed using blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy. Some forms can transform into other types of MPN or into acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) – one of Australia’s deadliest blood cancers with a  five-year survival rate of just 28 per cent1.

The Leukaemia Foundation has invested nearly $700,000 into research of MPNs as part of its $50 million National Research Program and continues to advocate and support all Australians living with more than 120 different blood cancers across the nation.

Currently, the Leukaemia Foundation is funding the research of Dr Liesl Butler – a junior haematologist based at the Centre for Blood Diseases at Monash University in Melbourne. Find out more about Dr Butler’s research here.

Virtual Seminar Details

Date: September 10, 2020

Time: 12 noon AEST

Where: Online via Microsoft Teams Live

Register here

Speakers:

Prof. Andrew Perkins from Monash University. Topic: Current clinical and research interests – rundown on how diagnosis and treatment is progressing and emerging therapies.

Prof. Wendy Erber from University of Western Australia. Topic: Why do Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Progress to Fibrosis?.

Prof. Peter Baade from Cancer Council QLD. Topic: How does the burden of MPN in Australia vary by where people live.

Helen Williams from Sydney. Helen is newly diagnosed with PV and will be discussing her experience from a patient perspective.

More about MPN

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are a rare group of blood cancers.

The MPN Polycythaemia vera is diagnosed in an estimated 250 Australians each year, essential thrombocythaemia around 200 and myelofibrosis an estimated 150. Rarer sub types are diagnosed in less than 50 Australians each year.

MPN is more commonly diagnosed in people over 50, although it can rarely occur in younger people, every rarely in in children.

Many people have no symptoms when they are first diagnosed with an MPN and the disease is often picked up accidently during a routine blood test or physical examination.

When symptoms do occur, the develop gradually over time and can include headaches, blurred vision, fatigue, weakness. Dizziness, itchiness, night sweats and raised blood pressure.

Most people with an MPN have no family history of the disease.

Find out more about MPN here.

– ENDS –