The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Announces Free Telephone Education Program on the Latest Advances in the Treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Friday, 6 June 2003

Live, Interactive Workshop to Feature Internationally Renowned Researcher Charles L. Sawyers, M.D.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the leading source of information and support for patients and families battling blood cancer, is offering a free telephone education workshop entitled, "The Pace of Progress: Latest Advances in CML Treatment," on Wednesday, June 11, 12 noon - 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Patients, their families, caregivers and healthcare professionals are encouraged to participate in the workshop, led by Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., an internationally renowned expert in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The workshop will include a question-and-answer period to allow participants the opportunity to pose questions directly to Dr. Sawyers.

The workshop will provide information about the latest advances in the treatment of CML, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood that afflicts approximately 4,300 new patients each year in the United States. The teleconference is part of a series of Society-sponsored CML programs, made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from Novartis Oncology.

Interested participants can register by emailing cmllinks@cancereducation.com or calling (888) 879-8823 and choosing option one. Registrants will receive confirmation and a toll-free dial-in number within 48 hours of signing up.

Dr. Sawyers is an investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Director, Genitourinary Oncology Program Area, the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; and the Peter Bing Professor of Medicine and Urology, UCLA's Division of Hematology-Oncology.

He has earned international recognition for his work on the BCR-ABL gene mutation in CML, and was a consultant on the original phase I trial of STI-571 (now GleevecTM). Dr. Sawyers was a Society Scholar for five years and is currently a project leader in one of the Society's Specialized Center of Research (SCOR).

The Society offers teleconferences, Webcasts and other educational programs throughout the year. Visit "Learn from the Experts" at www.lls.org to view archived Webcasts and teleconferences. For more information about CML, visit the Society's CML Links resource at http://cml.tlls.org or call the Society's Information Resource Center (IRC), which provides patients, families and caregivers with the latest information on blood cancers and Society patient service programs. IRC information specialists are available to speak with callers 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (800) 955-4572.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, based in White Plains, NY, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. The Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has provided more than $320 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers.

For more information, or to contact Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, see their website at: www.leukemia.org