Kidderminster Event: The Lady and the Sax

A night of music is coming to the Kidderminster Cricket Club as talented local duo The Lady and the Sax support a Kidderminster man’s fundraising.

Kris Griffin is taking on a year of fundraising in celebration of reaching his 10-year anniversary since being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). All proceeds raised will be donated to Leukaemia Care, a national charity based in Worcester who supports anyone affected by a blood cancer diagnosis.

Kris said, “As well as being a huge cricket supporter, my son Luca plays at the club, so I’m delighted that Kidderminster Cricket Club is supporting my campaign to raise £10,000 for Leukaemia Care.

“The support I’ve received from people across Wyre Forest has been incredible and I know that this will be a great night of music that everyone will enjoy.

“There’s a long way to go to reach that magic £10k mark but we’ve started strong; every penny will make a difference and save lives. It really is that important.”

So far, Kris has raised over £1,600 of his £10,000 target and hopes a night of music from The Lady and the Sax will help him on his way to his ambitious target. The funds raised from tickets sales will be split 50/50 between Leukaemia Care and Kidderminster Cricket Club Juniors.

The event will take place on Friday 29th June and starts at 8:30pm. Tickets are £8 and can be purchased at the club or by calling 07841 502535.

If you’d like to make a donation to Kris’ fundraising, head to his JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kris10.

Birthday Thanks

Just a huge note of thanks to everyone who donated and sent birthday wishes. I raised £343 towards my #Kris10 campaign. That’s a lot of socks and pants.

We’re fast approaching £2,000 and we’ve taken a step closer to that HUGE £10,000 target.

Never too late to donate. www.justgiving.com/kris10

Big thanks. Kris.

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, Happy birthday dear me, happy birthday to me.

That all sounds rather self-congratulatory but I’m using my birthday as a weapon to raise money so I’m vindicated, forgiven and a year older.

Ten years ago when I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) I wasn’t sure if I was going to live to 33 and now ten years later, I’m still here age 43; pretty good at maths too!

To celebrate the ten years since diagnosis (or as the Bee Gees would say, Stayin’ Alive), I’ve set myself a challenge to raise £10,000 for Leukaemia Care, the Worcester-based national charity that I’m a trustee of. The money will be spent training more GPs about the signs and symptoms of blood cancer. It will save lives.

So instead of showering me with gifts and cards this year, I’m encouraging you to throw money at me. That’s right, I’m making the ultimate sacrifice and giving up my birthday. No new socks and pants this year but we all get a warm and fuzzy feeling for doing the right thing.

Also, I got a target to hit, that £10,000 isn’t going to raise itself. So, join me, in wishing me, a happy birthday. Donate at www.justgiving.com/kris10 or text KTEN99 £5 to 70070 to donate £5.

All together now…for he’s a jolly good fellow…

One Week In For #Kris10

We’re a week in, only 51 weeks left to go! If you haven’t donated yet there’s plenty of time.

Nearly £900 of donations have come in, we’re approaching 10% of our target. I’m absolutely delighted and send my thanks and appreciation to everyone who has supported me so far.

Plans are coming together for a 10-mile walk on the 23rd September, the day after world CML day. We’ll start in Worcester and walk to Droitwich. As soon as we open sign-up, I’ll drop a message. Keep that date free!

Tickets are selling for the concert at the Cavern Club and we haven’t even announced any acts yet! More to come on that too. It’s on the 1st November and you can buy tickets now: http://bit.ly/CavernClubKris10.

The local media have been incredibly supportive, click the publication to open the story:

Kidderminster Shuttle
Worcester News
Express & Star

I’ve also been interviewed by my good friend Cavan Scott who is a number one best-selling author and comic writer for both adults and children. You can find the interview here: http://bit.ly/2o73ofl

If you can help me reach my £10,000 target through supporting any of the events, donating or getting involved, please contact me or visit www.justgiving.com/kris10.

To follow my story and to find out more about the fundraising, search online using the hashtag #Kris10.

Thank you. Kris

I’m celebrating a decade since diagnosis with £10,000 fundraising goal!

I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) in 2008, aged 32, after visiting my GP with symptoms such as night sweats and pain in my hip. A blood test went on to reveal a leukaemia diagnosis which had me asking the question, “Am I going to die?”

When you’re told you have a leukaemia, or a blood cancer, or some other terrible disease, you never forget what being told feels like. There’s a ringing in the ears, everything just drains out of you. You just feel like you’ve been punched, really hard, but you feel no pain.

Now ten years on, I’m a marketing expert, blood cancer charity trustee and a passionate campaigner working with fellow leukaemia patients across the world seeking access to treatment. I’m also a seasoned public speaker, I recently spoke at a training day for 40 West Midlands GPs to help them understand what a blood cancer diagnosis feels like from a patient perspective.

The diagnosis made a huge difference to my life. Clearly, I could do without it, but it has made me a better person, I’ve no doubt about that. It’s made me recognise the important things in life.

To celebrate ten years since diagnosis, I’ve set myself a challenge to raise £10,000 for Leukaemia Care, the Worcestershire-based national charity that I’m a trustee of. I am also donating 10 days of my time to help support the charity, from marketing support to holding live webinars for anyone affected by a blood cancer diagnosis.

One of my key events in this year of fundraising will include a gig which is being held at the Cavern Club in Liverpool on 1st November 2018. As a huge Beatles fan, I was delighted when the Cavern Club gifted the space to hold the fundraising event. Other fundraising ideas include a 10-mile walk and donating my birthday to the charity in lieu of presents.

Nicole Scully, fundraising manager for Leukaemia Care said, “Kris is a fantastic example of somebody who is living well with a blood cancer. Kris is using his own strength to support others who sadly may not be living as well as he is. His fundraising pledge is a huge boost to the charity and will enable us to train more GPs about the signs and symptoms of blood cancer, support haematology nurses and continue to fund our support services for patients. We’re really excited to see how Kris’ year pans out.”

Tickets for my charity gig in Liverpool are now available through the Cavern Club website http://bit.ly/CavernClubKris10.

To follow my story and to find out more about the fundraising, search online using the hashtag #Kris10, follow Leukaemia Care on social media or visit the JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kris10.

Patient Experience Survey

The 2017 patient survey from Leukaemia CARE is now live and they need your help to improve the experience of blood cancer patients!

In 2016, Leukaemia CARE partnered with Quality Health to develop the 2016 blood cancer patient experience survey. 2,519 patients shared their experience of blood cancer from diagnosis through to living with and beyond cancer.

This survey has helped to provide evidence to the extent of issues faced by blood cancer patients in the UK and inform the work at Leukaemia CARE. The leukaemia-specific findings and subsequent recommendations for improvements were highlighted in the ‘Living with Leukaemia’ report – those relating to diagnosis were used to inform the #SpotLeukaemia campaign for blood cancer awareness month.

This year Leukaemia CARE’s patient survey is running again from September through to Saturday 16th December and I want you to share your blood cancer experience.

The 2017 patient survey aims to:

1. Provide a deeper understanding of the issues faced by blood cancer patients, particularly those diagnosed with rare types of blood cancer.

2. Give a greater picture of regional differences between patient experiences.

3. Understand which patient experience issues are getting worse by comparing results to those from 2016 – this will then prioritise the focus of future campaigns.

With your help, Leukaemia CARE will have a greater understanding of the issues faced by blood cancer patients. This will help direct their future work and bring about changes where they are most needed.

Share your experience. Inform the work. Improve the future experience of blood cancer patients.

TAKE THE SURVEY – CLICK HERE

If you would like to request a hard-copy of the survey, please call 01905 755977 or email advocacy@leukaemiacare.org.uk

Professor Tessa Holyoake Memorial

The loss of Professor Holyoake is a massive blow to the CML community and a sad loss to her family. Below, you can find a link to a page of remembrance.

Professor Holyoake was a world-leader on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) achieving outstanding results in CML. Through her research, she developed methods to purify the cells of leukaemia patients. Her most recent study analysed both CML and normal blood stem cells and the key to the survival of CML stem cells. The team led by Professor Holyoake then developed a drug combination to simultaneously target these critical proteins and kill the CML stem cells.

The page will be collated with comments from CML patients all over the world. Most won’t have known her, but many will have benefitted from her work.

It would be nice to show our appreciation, the tributes and photos will be used in a Memorial Book for her family.

Thank you. Kris

www.cmladvocates.net/professor-tessa-holyoake-memorial

Leukaemia CARE – Spot Leukaemia

This September for Blood Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), Leukaemia CARE are working to improve public understanding of leukaemia and raise awareness of the most common symptoms patients experience before they are diagnosed.

In the UK, 38% of leukaemia patients are diagnosed via emergency presentation, compared to a cancer average of 22%. The key focus is driving earlier diagnosis of leukaemia, to improve patient experience and save lives.

Leukaemia Care has developed a campaign called Spot Leukaemia which encourages people to learn about leukaemia and the common symptoms. Leukaemia can be hard to spot because the signs and symptoms are common to other unrelated illnesses. Knowing what to look out for could help you make the decision to visit your GP sooner.

Leukaemia Care has also been contacting GPs to inform them of the campaign, so that they are aware of Spot Leukaemia and the messaging, in case patients ask them about symptoms they are experiencing.

The campaign is designed with one thing in mind: Awareness.

To this end, can you help Leukaemia Care raise awareness for this campaign by reading and sharing the information on this page and signing up for the Thunderclap?

www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/spot-leukaemia

Thanks.

Ponatinib (Iclusig) – GREAT NEWS!!!

I love news like this, especially when it’s been four-years in the making.

Iclusig (ponatinib) for the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) in adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase CML who are resistant to dasatinib or nilotinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate; or who have the T315I mutation.

For CML patient in England, this means we now have another safety net that is readily available for consultants to prescribe immediately. This is going to make a big difference to treatment options and the mental well-being of many patients.

Just a quick shout to all of the people who work for and are associated with Incyte (formally ARIAD) who’ve never given up on this and have worked so hard to get it to us. Congratulations and thank you.

NICE has also recommended ponatinib for treating Philadelphia-chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults. Hit the link for more info on this: www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/news/NICE-recommends-ponatinib

The full press release follows.

Kris

 

NICE Issues Positive Final Recommendation for Iclusig (ponatinib) for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) in England

CML patients across the UK who are resistant or intolerant to second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapies will now have equal access to Iclusig

LONDON, UK [28 April 2017] – Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq:INCY) announces that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Technology Appraisal Committee (TAC) has published a positive Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) recommending Iclusig^â (ponatinib) for the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) in adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase CML who are resistant to dasatinib or nilotinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate; or who have the T315I mutation.[i]

The positive FAD from NICE brings CML patients in England in line with those in Wales and Scotland who have had full-access to Iclusig, according to its license,[ii]^,[iii] since 2015; providing patients with CML across the UK who have failed other treatments equal access to an additional and important option.

“Today’s decision is important for patients with CML who have failed other treatments, as well as for physicians in England, who will now have access to the clinical benefits of Iclusig,” commented Mark Tanner, General Manager of Incyte Bioscience UK. “Together with the CML community, we have worked very hard over the last four years to encourage NICE to reconsider their original evaluation and are delighted that NICE has acknowledged the unmet need and the value that Iclusig brings.”

CML is a rare blood cancer with around 700 new cases each year in the UK.[iv]  CML affects economically active people, with around 50 percent of UK cases in people aged under 65 years.^iv Many patients with a new diagnosis of CML have a prolonged clinical benefit from targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, there has been a high unmet need and poor prognosis for patients whose advanced disease is resistant and intolerant to other therapies.[v] Once available treatment options are exhausted, the prognosis can be poor.^v  Despite advances in treatment, there remains a need for additional effective therapies for the management of CML.[vi] Iclusig fulfils an important need in the treatment pathway for CML patients and provides clinicians and patients with a full suite of treatment options for CML.

Professor Jane Apperley, Department of Haematology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London said, “This is an exciting and long-awaited outcome, which allows physicians to manage patients in a logical and clinical-evidence based manner with the goals of improving long-term survival and providing a good quality of life.”

Iclusig was approved by the European Commission[vii] in 2013 as an orphan drug for the treatment of adults with chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase CML who are resistant to dasatinib or nilotinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate. In Ph+ALL (Philadelphia chromosome‒positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia) patients, Iclusig is licensed for adult patients with Ph+ ALL who are resistant to dasatinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate. Iclusig is also licensed for people with CML and PH+ALL who have T315I mutation.[viii]

About CML and Ph+ ALL

CML is a cancer of the white blood cells that is diagnosed in approximately 7,000 patients each year in Europe.[ix] CML is characterized by an excessive and unregulated production of white blood cells by the bone marrow due to a genetic abnormality that produces the BCR-ABL protein. After a chronic phase of production of too many white blood cells, CML typically evolves to the more aggressive phases referred to as accelerated phase and blast crisis. Ph+ ALL is a subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that carries the Ph+ chromosome that produces BCR-ABL. It has a more aggressive course than CML and is often treated with a combination of chemotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The BCR-ABL protein is expressed in both of these diseases.

About Iclusig^® (ponatinib) tablets

Iclusig targets not only native BCR-ABL but also its isoforms that carry mutations that confer resistance to treatment, including the T315I mutation, which has been associated with resistance to other approved TKIs.

In the EU, Iclusig is approved for the treatment of adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who are resistant to dasatinib or nilotinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate; or who have the T315I mutation, or the treatment of adult patients with Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) who are resistant to dasatinib; who are intolerant to dasatinib and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate; or who have the T315I mutation.

Incyte has an exclusive license from ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, to develop and commercialize Iclusig in the European Union and 28 other countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Israel and Russia.

About Incyte

Incyte Corporation is a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics. For additional information on Incyte, please visit the Company’s website at www.incyte.com.

Follow @Incyte on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Incyte.

[i] NICE. 2017. Final Appraisal Determination: Ponatinib for treating chronic myeloid leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Available at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ta10060/documents/final-appraisal-determination-document Last accessed 28 April 2017

[ii] All Wales Medicines Strategy Group. Ponatinib (Iclusig). Appraisals. Available at: http://www.awmsg.org/awmsgonline/app/appraisalinfo/1163. Last accessed 24 March 2017

[iii] Scottish Medicines Consortium. SMC Advice. Ponatinib (Iclusig). Available at: http://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/1032_15_ponatinib_Iclusig/ponatinib_Iclusig. Last accessed April 2017.

[iv] CRUK. Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) incidence statistics. Available at: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/leukaemia-cml/incidence/. Last accessed April 2017.

[v] Cortes JE, KimD-W, Pinilla-Ibarz J, et al. A Phase 2 Trial of Ponatinib in Philadelphia Chromosome–Positive Leukemias. N Engl J Med 2013;369: 1783-1796. Available at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1306494.

[vi] Woessner DW, Lim CS, Deininger MW. Development of an Effective Therapy for CML. Cancer J 2011;17(6):doi:10.1097/PPO.0b013e318237e5b7. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3251313/pdf/nihms-332259.pdf. Last accessed April 2017.

[vii] EMA. Iclusig EPAR summary for the public.  Available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/002695/human_med_001656.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124. Last accessed April 2017.

[viii] Iclusig Summary of Product Characteristics. Available at: http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/28145. Last accessed April 2017.

[ix] Rohrbacher M, Hasford J. Epidemiology of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Best Pract Res Clin Haematol. 2009 Sep;22(3):295-302. Based on current estimate of population of Europe (738,199,000 in 2010).

 

Leukaemia Care: I wasn’t born yesterday

Leukaemia Care has published this outstanding report, it’s well worth a read. As a trustee of Leukaemia Care and a CML patient, I’m incredibly proud of the hard work that has gone into publishing this. Thank you. Kris
What’s the problem?
Research from sources such as Macmillan and Public Health England has shown that cancer survival worsens with increasing age. Older patients (those aged 65 and over) make up just under two-thirds of all leukaemia cases (64%). However, this group accounts for 81% of all leukaemia related deaths. The new report ‘Leukaemia: I wasn’t born yesterday’ looks at the challenges faced by older patients and makes recommendations for improvements.

What this means for patients
As part of our report, we undertook a survey of over 1,300 leukaemia patients, to uncover the inequalities that are impacting on cancer survival and patient experience.

Based on what you told us, we have made the following recommendations:
1. Improved awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia, amongst the public and healthcare professionals, including the link between leukaemia and age.
2. Access to a clinical nurse specialist from diagnosis onwards for all patients.
3. Tailored information and support for patients, based on their individual need, not age. This should include guidance on finding accurate information online.
4. Equal access to clinical trials for patients of all ages, to ensure that robust evidence is available on the most appropriate treatment

What can you do to help?
1. Download a copy of the report (PDF)
2. Share the report on social media to help spread the word
3. If you’re aged 65 and over and have been affected by leukaemia, get in touch with us to share your story by emailing advocacy@leukaemiacare.org.uk or calling 01905 755977
4. Keep up to date with our campaigns by signing up to receive email communications from LC.