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Multiple Myeloma is a blood cancer residing in the bone which accounts for 2% of all new cancer diagnoses. Each year up to 5,500 people in the UK and 38,000 in Europe are diagnosed with myeloma, but it remains incurable for the vast majority. Although significant resources and investments have been directed at understanding the cause, diagnosis, and treatment programmes that have improved life expectancy, there is still not a known cure.
Through a generous donation, the Oxford Translational Myeloma Centre (OTMC) was announced in 2022 with the aim to develop a roadmap for personalised patient care, early diagnosis, and to explore how new therapies can be used with the ultimate goal to find a cure for myeloma cancer.
Formally launched today, the OTMC will be based at the Botnar Institute for Musculoskeletal Sciences, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS). Its mission is to undertake internationally competitive research into the processes underlying multiple myeloma and related plasma cell diseases. It will be co-led by Professor Anjan Thakurta, recently appointed Chair of Translational Medicine, Professor Karthik Ramasamy, clinical lead for Myeloma in Oxford and the wider Thames Valley, and Professor Udo Oppermann, Chair in Musculoskeletal Sciences and Director of Laboratory Sciences at the Botnar Institute for Musculoskeletal Sciences.