What was your moderation about?

Hi, I’m Dr Hugo Fernandez, I am the Medical Director of the Moffitt Malignant Hematology and Cellular Therapy at Memorial Healthcare System. I will be moderating the session on malignant hematology on Saturday afternoon. We will be discussing multiple new areas and new treatments in diseases such as lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, multiple myeloma and leukaemia. We will also be talking about myelodysplastic syndrome, a process that’s there.

We’re hoping to bring the new therapies that are available, presentations from ASCO and ASH of last year, and bringing you up to date to all the new therapies that are there and available at Moffitt and down here in south Florida and also in Tampa.

Can you highlight any specialised programs or services offered by MCI that have been developed in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center?

The purpose of Moffitt going down into south Florida was to bring the therapies closer to the patients. We found that many patients were unable to travel or unwilling to travel far distances to receive their treatments, either treatment for malignant blood disorders or treatment for stem cell therapies and now the newest therapies that are called CAR T, which is chimeric antigen receptor T-cells. Those are special therapies that are available and weren’t available down here previously or in a very limited fashion. We were able to come down here, establish a very strong program that has not only stem cell transplantation but also CAR T therapy. We’re also doing research in the treatment of malignant blood disorders.