5 Minutes with…Paresh Vyas
Let’s Talk Blood Cancer: The Patients Podcast, brings you 5 minutes with… host Adam Joyce sits down with, Professor Paresh Vyas, Consultant Haematologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Around 3,500 people are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in the UK each year. As one of the most aggressive leukaemias, treatment needs to begin quickly.
For Professor Vyas, improving outcomes means developing treatments that are not only more effective, but better suited to individual patients.
The Evolve Trial
The Evolve trial is an example of a new clinical trial, within the UK, with the potential to move towards more targeted treatment in the future.
“It means that in the future we’ll have better targeted treatments”. If successful, the trial could help build the evidence needed for the NHS to adopt the treatment as a standard option in the future.
Getting Patients Back to Normality
Treatment can mean spending significant periods of time in hospital. While patients may need to stay in hospital during the first week or so of treatment, the wider aim across blood cancer care is to help people spend as much time at home as possible.
“The loss of normality strips patients of their dignity and who they are. Giving that back to them is so important.”
Blood Cancer is 365 Days a Year
Blood cancer doesn’t stop. Every day, patients and their families are arriving at hospitals across the country for treatment and support. “It’s important to not forget them or their families.”
And supporting those patients are the research nurses and clinical teams who make a difference every day.
“These nurses make a difference day in and day out”, for Professor Vyas, the future of blood cancer care is about more than new treatments. It is about using treatments to give patients the best possible care while helping them retain their dignity, independence and some form of normality.