Free Conference Offers Blood Cancer Patients Education and Support

Jan. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- In 2011, there were an estimated 2,100 new cases of blood cancer diagnosed in patients throughout Colorado and an estimated 600 deaths from leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma in the state. As part of its mission to raise funds for blood cancer research and offer professional and patient education, patient services and support, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will host the 2012 Rocky Mountain Blood Cancer Conference (RMBCC) for patients and their families and caregivers on Saturday, April 14. The RMBCC will be a day of education on blood cancers and psycho-social support for all cancers and will be held at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo.

This second annual day-long conference is free to blood cancer patients and their families with the goal to provide information about a better quality of life and access to health care professionals. The day consists of presentations from oncology physicians in each of the major blood cancer categories with break-out groups on topics such as nutrition, chemo-brain, clinical trials, fitness, etc., throughout the day. Continuing education units are offered for healthcare professionals.  

Dan Shapiro, Ph. D. will kick off this year’s Conference as keynote speaker presenting “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemotherapy.” Shapiro is the Arnold P. Gold Foundation professor of medical humanism and the chair of the department of humanities at Penn State College of Medicine.  He is also a consultant to the hit television shows, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice."

Attendees at this year’s RMBCC will have the opportunity to attend sessions and meet with renowned oncology physicians and professors including Dr. Jerald Radich with the Clinical Research Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Dr. Nathan Fowler, assistant professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma in the Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Tex.; and local oncologists Dr. Jeffrey Matous, the medical director for the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute and the Rocky Mountain Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; and Dr. Han Myint, the director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Hematologic Malignancies and Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.

The 2012 RMBCC is supported in part by Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Registration will open on Monday, March 5. For more information, visit www.lls.org/rm/rmbcc or contact Lori Apple, patient services manager, at (720) 440-8682 or rmbcc@lls.org.  

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org or contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.