Blood cancer survival rates falling behind developed countries

Patients and families in the south east are backing a campaign to improve how the NHS handles blood cancer cases.

Blood Cancer UK said the five-year survival rate for patients with cancers such a acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and myeloma is less than 50%.

Working with patients and their families, the charity has drawn up an action plan to improve NHS specialist roles, boost diagnoses, remove barriers to care and drugs and enhance national data collection.

Nick and Katrina Bromfield, from Canterbury, Kent, whose daughter, Zoë, died from acute promyelocytic leukaemia, said: “We passionately believe that greater awareness and earlier identification are the key to improving the chances of surviving blood cancer.”