50 years of hairy-cell leukemia research to b...( COLUMBUS Ohio In 1958 Ohio State U...),Health

COLUMBUS, Ohio In 1958, Ohio State University cancer researcher Dr. Bertha Bouroncle first identified a deadly disease now known as hairy-cell leukemia, a once fatal disease that can now be effectively treated.

Now, 50 years later researchers from across the globe are gathering for a symposium titled "50 years of Enormous Progress in Hairy Cell Leukemia: A Celebration of Clinical Research with Remaining Unanswered Questions."

The free Friday Satellite Symposium, which precedes the 50th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, will be held from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. PST Friday (12/5) at the Moscone Convention Center West, 888 Howard St., San Francisco, Level 3, Room 3000/3002/3004.

Hairy-cell leukemia is a relatively rare form of adult chronic leukemia that affects white blood cells called B lymphocytes. This disease was once uniformly fatal, but highly successful therapies have been developed, and patients today who receive proper treatment can have a relatively normal quality of life.

Dr. Michael Grever, chairman of the department of internal medicine at Ohio State and co-leader of the Experimental Therapeutics program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, is one of seven leukemia experts who will lead the meeting. The investigators also plan to establish an international association devoted to hairy-cell leukemia research.

"This seminar celebrates the progress we've made in hairy-cell leukemia, yet recognizes the work that still needs to be done," said Grever, who specializes in hematologic malignancies. "We want to show practicing oncologists that in the past 50 years, we've gone from a fatal, untreatable disease to one that can be treated effectively, allowing patients to live relatively normal lives."

Other presenters include Dr. John Cawley, department of haematology at the University of Liverpool in the U.K.; Dr. Robert J
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