A Bright Future Ahead

Martine Elias, Executive Director

It happens every year. Before we know it, we’re halfway through September and no one knows where the summer went! For us at Myeloma Canada, summer and fall are filled with non-stop planning and events. Our flagship Multiple Myeloma March kicked off with a record breaking 28 marches across Canada and participation has been awesome! Thank you to everyone for your hard work, dedication and passion to make this 11 ^th year what we hope will be the best one yet. As we mentioned in the July issue of Myeloma Matters, we’ve set our sights on raising $550,000. Let’s make it happen!

Initiatives like the Multiple Myeloma March and all the wonderful activities that you, our Canadian myeloma community, organize and hold, raise much-needed funds that help further important clinical research to help find a cure for this disease. On September 4 ^th , The Canadian Cancer Society released their latest Canadian Cancer Statistics 2019 report, the headline of which reads “New report shows survival for blood cancers has increased more than any other cancer over 20 years: Research is enabling precision medicine to change the future for an increasing number of Canadians facing blood cancer diagnoses” . I don’t have to tell you what great news this is!

Read the press release

Access the full report

Some other interesting and promising facts from the report:

Some of the biggest increases in overall cancer survival since the early 1990s were for blood-related cancers;
The number of cancer cases diagnosed each year has been increasing because of the growing and aging population. When the effect of age and population size are removed, the risk of cancer has been decreasing;
The survival rate for myeloma has increased by an impressive 16.8% over the past 20 years! Much of this can be attributed to advancements in drug therapies and access to clinical trials, earlier detection as a result of an increase in awareness and education of myeloma and its symptoms.

These breakthroughs align with Myeloma Canada’s mission to improve the lives of those affected by myeloma by empowering the community through awareness, education and advocacy programs, and supporting clinical research to find the cure.

I encourage you to read the press release as well as the report. Together, our fundraising, education, advocacy and awareness efforts are making a difference!

Martine Elias

Executive Director