World Lymphoma Awareness Day, UK

Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia
Article Date: 11 Sep 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Know Your Nodes! That's the message the Lymphoma Association and Leukaemia CARE are spreading ahead of World Lymphoma Awareness Day (WLAD), an event held annually on September 15th which aims to inform the public about lymphoma; the sixth most common cancer in the UK.

In order to recognise WLAD this year, the charities, both members of the Lymphoma Coalition, are encouraging people to go online and take part in a quiz which tests people's understanding of their lymph nodes, the lymphatic system and gives information on the common signs and symptoms of the cancer.

Julie Mercer, Head of Communications for the Lymphoma Association says: "If people have a better understanding of how their lymphatic system works, it means that potential symptoms may be recognised sooner, leading to earlier detection of the cancer. Early detection and diagnosis is key to the success of treatment so we really want as many people as possible to take the quiz and educate themselves."

You can take the quiz by visiting http://www.knowyournodes.org.uk.

Notes

World Lymphoma Awareness Day is a global initiative hosted by the Lymphoma Coalition, a non-profit network organisation of patient groups from around the world that promotes initiatives to support the global lymphoma community. It currently has 35 member groups from 29 countries. For more information, visit http://www.lymphomacoalition.org.uk

About the Lymphoma Association

Founded by patients in 1986, the Lymphoma Association is the only specialist UK charity that provides accurate medical information and support to lymphatic cancer patients, their families and friends.

Every year, nearly 11,000 new cases of lymphoma are identified in the UK alone, making it the 6th most common cancer diagnosed by clinicians, and the most common cancer affecting the 15 - 30 age group.

The services that we offer include a freephone patient helpline, free patient literature, a buddy scheme with telephone links to others with similar experiences, local support groups, regional patient conferences and comprehensive information on our award winning websites. In addition to this, the organisation is currently running a pilot project which has established five Lymphoma Association Clinical Nurse Specialist posts within NHS Haematology Units.

The Lymphoma Association is also the founder member of the Lymphatic Cancer Alliance, a UK based coalition of four charities (the others' being CancerBACKUP, Leukaemia CARE and the Leukaemia Research Fund) that have come together to create awareness of lymphoma, which should result in better support, care and treatment for lymphatic cancer patients everywhere.

We also represent the patient perspective by providing evidence for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraisals, being on the steering committee of the NHS Coalition for Cancer Information (CCI) and by being a founder member of the Lymphoma Coalition - an international group of lymphoma patient support organisations.

Visit the Lymphoma Association website http://www.lymphomas.org.uk

About Leukaemia CARE

Leukaemia CARE is a national charity that provides care and support to patients, their families and carers during the difficult journey through the diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia, lymphoma or an allied blood disorder.

Leukaemia CARE provides the only dedicated, staffed, free, 24 hour phone CARE Line for patients and their families that enables people to discuss their feelings, concerns and emotions at such a difficult period of time. In addition, Leukaemia CARE is heavily involved with patient advocacy and provides information, holidays, discretionary financial support and has a network of Volunteers throughout the United Kingdom to ensure that there is local support wherever a patient and their family live.

Leukaemia CARE