On Thursday 11th October, Blood Cancer Research Western Australia hosted an educational evening, ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears of Joy’ in conjunction with the Snowdome Foundation at the University of Western Australia. Hosted by Wendy Erber, Dean of UWA Medical School and Chaired by Professor David Joske, the evening provided an update on current research and trials.

Our very own Dr Chan Cheah presented during the evening, sharing details of the current progress in the WALCRE, which saw an increase in the number of trials open and available to patients, including two world first, first in human studies. Dr Cheah then went on to discuss the alliance between the trials units at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hollywood Private Hospital and Linear Clinical Research, offering a flexible platform to maximise the opportunities available to WA Blood Cancer patients to access potentially life-saving new drugs.

The attendees were also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hear from Rita Zuks, a patient who has taken part in two clinical trials. Rita shared her experiences of the trials, which resulted in complete remissions on two consecutive studies for an aggressive lymphoma that had been refractory to many types of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Dr Chan Cheah then joined a panel alongside Dr Carolyn Grove, Dr Gavin Cull, Dr Brad Auguston and Rita Zuks to discuss current unmet needs in clinical research.

All round, the evening provided fantastic insights into the latest breakthroughs in finding a cure for Blood Cancers.