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Responding to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blood Cancer’s report ‘The ‘Hidden’ Cancer: The need to improve blood cancer care’, published today, Anthony Nolan’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager Amelia Chong comments:

A schoolgirl has become the 10,000th lifesaver recruited by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) for Anthony Nolan.

Clydebank High School’s 16-year-old Shelley McKay was proud to help the Service achieve the landmark number of donors on Tuesday, December 5. And the outstanding donor tally has so far resulted in 27 lives being saved.

Retired Area Manager Ally Boyle sparked the award-winning partnership between SFRS and the charity. He said: “When I was diagnosed with a blood cancer I was absolutely devastated.

Anthony Nolan has announced a collaboration with biotech firm Plasticell to make stem cell transplants from umbilical cords more effective.

Cord blood is used in over 110 UK transplants per year, and has a number of advantages over transplants from an unrelated adult donor. Because it is collected and banked, it is available immediately for patients in urgent need of a transplant. The stem cells in cord blood are less mature and can adapt to suit a wider range of tissue types, so can be a lifeline for people with unusual tissue types and no match on the donor register.

TV presenter Joe Crowley will host this year’s Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards on Tuesday 28 November. The annual awards celebrate, recognise and thank the outstanding supporters who keep the pioneering blood cancer charity moving forward.

Fifteen awards will be presented at the event, which takes place at the House of Commons in categories including Patient Champion of the Year, Donor Champion of the Year, John Petchey Young Hero.

Anthony Nolan has partnered with Leuka, NHS Blood and Transplant and the University of Birmingham to deliver the UK’s first large-scale clinical trials programme, to save and improve the lives of children and adults who receive stem cell transplants.

A thirteen-year-old from Edinburgh has met the stranger who donated bone marrow – two years after battling back to health after a stem cell transplant. 

Rory was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer, in 2014. Rory’s best chance of a cure was a bone marrow transplant which involved eradicating his diseased cells with chemotherapy and replacing them with cells from a stranger. 

The shortlist for the 2017 Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards has been announced by the charity today (Tuesday 17 October). 

The annual awards ceremony is held to recognise and thank Anthony Nolan’s outstanding patients, donors, volunteers and fundraisers whose support helps us to give three people a second chance of life every day. 

St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the heart of London has become the fourth UK hospital, and the second in London, to host a dedicated Anthony Nolan nurse to help patients who have received a stem cell transplant to treat their blood cancer or blood disorder.

Debbie Anderson has been appointed as the Clinical Nurse Specialist for the hospital and will provide integrated care to approximately 200 patients and their families each year.

Anthony Nolan, the blood cancer charity and stem cell donor register, will fund the post for three years.

Stem cell transplant recipients are left feeling like they have “fallen off a cliff” as our new research reveals that one in five are not offered any specialist NHS support during their long-term recovery.

Despite transplant patients often being known as “patients for life” due to the long-term side-effects of the treatment, many patients are not receiving adequate support for the physical, practical and psychological challenges they experience.

Thirteen Anthony Nolan supporters, including a nine-year-old from Chorley, make up 104 stories which form a spectacular installation in London.

Rory was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer, in 2012. Rory’s best chance of a cure was a bone marrow transplant which involved eradicating his diseased cells with chemotherapy and replacing them with cells from a stranger.