How can a massive, real-world database tracking nearly 60,000 patients revolutionise our understanding of blood cancer treatment and patient care?

In this episode, Lucy and Janine are joined by Professor Alex Smith and Professor Debra Howell from the University of York’s Epidemiology & Cancer Statistics Group to explore the Haematological Malignancy Research Network (HMRN). This major research initiative focuses on a critical health priority: collecting granular, population-based data to transform the care pathways for those diagnosed with blood cancers.

Listen as we discuss the journey of building a 20-year registry that captures the detailed care pathway for over 100 different subtypes of blood cancer. We discover the powerful methodology behind combining large-scale epidemiology with qualitative patient interviews—revealing how real-world survival rates have doubled for certain conditions, the emotional anxieties of the "watch and wait" approach, and what the future holds for cutting-edge treatments like CAR T-cell therapy. PLUS, we find out what happens when "symbiotic nerds" unite to put the patient's lived experience at the absolute centre of data science!

HMRN website: https://hmrn.org/

HMRN Publications: https://hmrn.org/publications/papers

Music by Matthew Bailey