National treatment centre for blood cancer launched in Stanmore (From Harrow Times)

National treatment centre for blood cancer launched in Stanmore

12:10pm Saturday 13th October 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

Patients from across the UK will come to Stanmore for treatment for a spine disease caused by blood cancer after a hospital led international research.

Surgeons at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in Wood Lane launched a new national service to treat myeloma spine disease yesterday, after leading research into the condition.

The NHS estimates that multiple myeloma affects 60-70 in every million people, which leads to plasma cells inside bone marrow to become cancerous, causing spinal fractures.

There is no known cure for the disease, but consultant orthopaedic surgeon Sean Molloy and consultant haematologist Charalampia Kyriakou will accept patients from across the country and offer advice to other clinics on how to treat patients.

Mr Molloy said: “The service has been running locally at the RNOH for four years now, and on the back of our experience we were asked by the International Myeloma Committee to write up-to-date guidelines – which will influence the national service we are embarking upon – and they will be published over the next few months.

“Myeloma commonly affects the spine and in up to 70 per cent of patients it causes spinal fractures. The myeloma service will provide a one-stop clinic for diagnostics and management.

“It will be a multi-disciplinary approach with spinal surgeons, haematologists, pain management consultants and therapists.”

New treatments that can slow the progression of the cancer that have emerged during the last ten years have approximately doubled survival rates and improved the quality of life for myeloma patients.