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ThymicUK & The International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group raise profile of rare disease with world’s second Thymic Malignancy Awareness Month; May 2023
There is limited knowledge of these diseases, few treatment options and few specialists who understand them”
— Karen Ruddock
After the success of the first-ever international awareness month for rare thymic malignancies in 2022, ThymicUK and ITMIG are back for a second year, highlighting the case for these under-represented cancers.
Thymic malignancies are extremely rare, making up just 0.09% of new cancer diagnoses in the UK in 2019 (cancerdata.nhs.uk).
“There is limited knowledge of these diseases, few treatment options and few specialists who understand them” says Karen Ruddock, founder and chair of ThymicUK – a charity providing support for thymic cancer patients and advocating for better treatments and research.
“The aim of the Thymic Malignancy Awareness Month is to change this”, she continued.
The awareness month was founded in 2022 by ITMIG and is back for a second year in 2023.
ITMIG is the leading organisation for the advancement of clinical and basic science of thymic malignancies and related conditions.
ThymicUK will also be publishing patient stories, awareness materials, fundraising stories, as well as advice and resources for patients, family, friends, and carers.
ITMIG and ThymicUK have put together a leaflet and infographic which outline some key information about these rare diseases: What thymic malignancies are, common symptoms and how they are diagnosed and treated. “The leaflet is designed to be a resource for patients, health care professionals and members of the public, to increase their understanding of thymic malignancies and help improve the outcomes of patients, now and in the future”, added Ruddock.
For more information, healthcare professionals, researchers and patients can visit the ITMIG (www.itmig.org) and ThymicUK (www.thymicuk.org) websites.
