You can help change your prognosis!

 

As you know, September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. Last year, 120 MPN patients let us know what research project they felt was important by making a gift during Blood Cancer Awareness Month. After our scientific Review Board reviewed and approved a list of projects, MPN patients family members and friends choose from this list and told us where we should use their gift.

 

These patients directed their funds to support a small pilot study of 10 patients that will investigate a patient’s response to immuno-therapy. 

 

Our immune system, which fights infections, does not inhibit the development of MF. Restoring the ability of our immune system to respond to MF is the goal of this project. The interaction between two proteins known as PD1 and PDL-1 has been widely investigated and is an established approach to restore our immune system to respond to hard tumors and lymphoid cancers. This project will use a drug called a PDL-1 inhibitor that will determine a MF patient’s response to this type of therapy.  If the results of this project is successful, it could lead to the development of a new therapy for MF patients.

 

If you want to help change your prognosis, all you need to do is make a contribution to the MPN Research Foundation in September. Go to: https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=12140. With your gift, you will get to vote for a specific research project approved by our Scientific Review Board during our next funding cycle.

 

The project with the most votes, will be designated the BCAM Research Project for 2016.