Registration Now Open for Free Blood Cancer Conference on April 14

March 7, 2012 - PRLog -- Registration is now open for the 2012 Rocky Mountain Blood Cancer Conference (RMBCC) on Saturday, April 14 at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo. This full-day, free event is hosted by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and offers blood cancer patients and their families and caregivers education on blood cancer and psycho-social support for all cancers. To see a complete list of conference sessions and to register, visit www.lls.org/rm/rmbcc.

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. The goal of this second annual conference is to provide blood cancer patients and their families with 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, 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; 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 Celgene Corporation and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. For more information or to register, visit www.lls.org/rm/rmbcc or contact Lori Apple, patient services manager, at (720) 440-8620 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.

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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.