Today is World Lymphoma Awareness Day and the Leukaemia Foundation is highlighting the rising incidence of one of Australia’s most common blood cancers.

Over the past 10 years, incidence of lymphoma have risen by 37%, leading to close to 7000 people being diagnosed with this blood cancer each year in 2020. Sadly, projections also show the number of Australians diagnosed with a lymphoma will jump a further 147 per cent by 2035 – making for an extra 10,000 Australians being told they have lymphoma every year.

Leukaemia Foundation Acting CEO Alex Struthers said with more people being diagnosed with lymphoma every year, it is a priority for the Leukaemia Foundation to ensure that each and every person will have access to the right treatment, care and information they need to survive their blood cancer and live well with their diagnosis.

"We welcome improved diagnostics to inform new targeted treatment approaches and we strongly support emergence of innovative therapies, like CAR T-cell therapy, which is now available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for some lymphoma patients – but not all," Ms Struthers said.

"We need better access to genetic testing and more investment in research and clinical trials in Australia to help make new cellular and immunotherapies more accessible to all people living with any one the diverse set of lymphoma cancers."

Leukaemia Foundation research shows that less than 30% of Australians living with blood cancer have access to genetic and genomic testing to inform their diagnosis and treatment planning. It also shows that less than 20% of Australians living with this disease have participated in a clinical trial, and only 1 in 5 who want to enroll in a clinical trial have access to one.

Improving access to diagnostics, clinical trials and new therapies forms part of what the Blood Cancer Taskforce has been considering in their development of the first National Strategic Action Plan for Blood Cancer, due for release soon.

The Blood Cancer Taskforce - a unique collaboration of some of the country’s top blood cancer experts and leaders - has now delivered the National Action Plan to the Federal Government and will continue to work alongside the Government to support the launch of the Plan soon.

"The National Action Plan will be a blueprint to not only save lives, but to improve these statistics and bridge these gaps to better meet the diagnosis and treatment needs of every Australian who is told they have a blood cancer," Ms Struthers said.

The Leukaemia Foundation will today launch two webinars to help increase awareness, celebrate breakthroughs in treatment and acknowledge what still needs to be done to conquer the disease.

Speakers will include Dr Glenn Kennedy, Executive Director of Cancer Services at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, who will present on CAR-T therapy including an overview of CAR-T and its relevance to the lymphoma patient population.

Physiotherapist and lymphoma survivor Ms Julie Allen will also present from a patient perspective and talk about the importance of exercise as treatment for lymphoma patients.