For Immediate Release
October 4, 2007

BUFFALO, NY – More than 100 Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) patients and family members will celebrate survivorship and remember loved ones at the annual BMT All Stars Day, Saturday, October 6, from 1 - 4 pm in the Gaylord-Cary Meeting Room, Research Studies Center, RPCI, Elm & Carlton Streets, Buffalo, NY.

BMT recipients and their families will have an opportunity to meet and share experiences with each other and visit with RPCI faculty and staff. The event will also celebrate the memory and courage of those who lost their fight against cancer.

Festivities include music from DJs Andrea & John, children’s activities and a theme tray auction. Refreshments will be provided. Roswell Park faculty will offer a BMT patient and caregiver orientation, provide information about a new family resource program and encourage connections to support group information for caregivers of patients with long-term health issues. Patients and families will have the chance to share their transplant diaries.

Thanks to advances in technology and medical research, BMT is used to treat a variety of cancers, including certain leukemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and some solid tumors, as well as non-malignant diseases, such as aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

RPCI offers both autologous (self-donated) and allogeneic (from a related or unrelated donor) transplantation of peripheral blood, bone marrow or cord blood. The procedure involves eradicating the cells in the patient’s bone marrow with intensive chemotherapy or radiation, followed by a “rescue” in which the marrow or stem cells are replaced. A transplant allows physicians to replace diseased or damaged bone marrow after treatment, increasing the likelihood of a cure, or at least prolonging survival.

“Today there are now more than 10 million cancer survivors living in the United States. The increasing number of patients who join the ranks of survivorship are a testament to the courage and dedication of the patients, their families and those who care for them,” said Philip McCarthy, MD, Director of Roswell Park’s BMT Program. “Cancer and its treatment provides a reality check for us all as we understand more fully that life, love, friends, family are all worth celebrating.”

Roswell Park is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and certified by the National Marrow Donor Program as a Transplant Center as well as a Blood and Marrow Collection Center. Patients who are in need of blood or marrow transplants for a variety of diseases, but who do not have suitable related donors, no longer have to leave Upstate New York for treatment. RPCI has access to over six million potential donors through national and international registries, and serves as a regional referral center for blood and marrow collection.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@rpswellpark.org.

 

-30-