Major advances have been made in the treatment of a specific type of blood cancer and these are having a big impact on survival rates, a leading expert has claimed.

Speaking at a public meeting in Dublin this week, Prof Paul Richardson, of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Harvard Medical School, explained that there have been major advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma. This is a cancer of the blood which arises from a type of white blood cell that is made in the bone marrow.

The uncontrolled growth of these cells can lead to bone pain and fractures, as well as kidney problems and other problems with the blood.

Around 250 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma every year in Ireland, while 170 die annually as a result of the disease.

According to Prof Richardson, in the past, a patient diagnosed with this type of cancer could only expect to survive for an average of two to five years and chemotherapy was the only treatment available.

However today, the survival rate has greatly increased and the introduction of new medicines in the coming years is expected to improve these survival rates even more.

"The last decade has seen multiple myeloma survival improve significantly, from a median of two to five years at best, to seven to 10 years or more, thanks to the advent of novel therapies.

"The scale of how research is improving outcomes can be seen in the rate of approvals of new myeloma-related therapies by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which made an unprecedented 18 approvals in this area in the last 13 years, seven of which came in 2015 alone," Prof Richardson said.

He spoke at a public meeting in Dublin, which was organised by the Irish Cancer Society as part of Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

Blood cancer is an umbrella term for any cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow or lymphatic system. There are around140 different types of blood cancer, including multiple myeloma and leukaemia. Some 1,500 people in Ireland are currently living with a form of the disease.

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