CANCER

Bloodwise 6
Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2015
Achieving our vision
Every 14 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed
with blood cancer or a related disorder. That’s almost
38,000 people every year. Although blood cancer
research is one of the most advanced and innovative
parts of science, the fact that there are more than 100
different types of blood cancer makes our job a very
complex one.
ALL HAEMATOLOGICAL
NEOPLASM
EXPECTED NO.
OF CASES
Total 37,990
Although blood cancers mainly affect people over
50, they’re unusual because they can affect anyone
regardless of age and lifestyle.
And because there are so many types of blood cancer,
it’s often not recognised that together they are the
third biggest cancer killer in the UK.
Thanks to research, significant progress has been
made. Today, two thirds of everyone diagnosed with
blood cancer or related pre-cancerous condition will
still be with us in five years’ time. When we started,
very few survived for this long.
There have been many successes. The transformation
in survival for the most common form of childhood
leukaemia from zero in 1960 to 92% (for those taking
part in the latest clinical trials) today; the development
of the first magic bullet therapies in chronic myeloid
leukaemia; the use of monoclonal antibodies in
diagnosis and treatment; and more recently the
development of cell based therapies. These are just
some of the achievements to date.
Our vision is to beat blood cancer and our mission is
to stop people from dying of blood cancer; to make
patients’ lives better; and to stop blood cancers from
happening in the first place.
To achieve this we invest in a robust translational
pipeline of research, in patient services that improve
the experience of patients, on acting as a voice for
patients by campaigning and on generating awareness
and income. We also share our learning and work with
others to achieve results more quickly.
With thanks to HMRN for the statistics shown on
this page hmrn.org/statistics/incidence
Bloodwise trading as Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Company limited by guarantee 738089
Registered charity 216032 (England & Wales) SC037529 (Scotland)