Each year in the UK, over 300 patients are diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a blood cancer associated with debilitating symptoms including extreme fatigue, pain, weakness and shortness of breath. Around 10-20% of patients go on to develop acute myeloid leukaemia, with median survival from the time of diagnosis just 2 years for patients with high-risk disease.
Stem cell transplant are the only cure for myelofibrosis, but this is only suitable for a small minority of younger patients who don't have other conditions as well. Instead, the standard NHS care for the illness is treatment with a drug called ruxolitnib, but many patients do not respond to this treatment.
Professor Mead said "The PROMise study is a really exciting study that has just opened in the UK and will be opening across 15 centres. This is introducing a new treatment called PLX2853, in combination with ruxolitininb, for patients with MF (myelofibrosis)."
Read the full story on the Radcliffe Department of Medicine website.