Leukemia charity puts 90,000 euros into research in Styria

The Leukemia Aid Styria has allocated 90,000 euros to three research projects at the Medical University of Graz to mark its 30th anniversary, ORF reported.

About 70 to 100 people in Styria are diagnosed with acute leukemia each year. The number has remained stable, but the rate of illness is rising as the population ages and more people survive other cancers, sometimes developing therapy-related leukemia as a late effect of chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Although leukemia is relatively rare among adults compared with other cancers, up to 10,000 people in Austria are living with the disease or its effects. Treatment outcomes have improved substantially for some types, said Armin Zebisch of the university’s Clinical Division of Hematology. Some groups now have long-term cure rates above 95 percent, even without chemotherapy, while survival remains extremely poor for other subgroups.

“Without research, there is no cure,” said Marie Peinsith, chairwoman of Leukemia Aid Styria. She said the group’s funding projects aim to support the development of better treatments for patients.