Walgreen Co. and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) announced the launch of a joint initiative to promote the advance of cancer therapies and better address the shifting treatment model that patients with blood cancers like lymphoma, or others cancers, face in the healthcare system.
The collaboration builds on the Walgreens’ Specialty Pharmacy tradition of service to its communities, and the Society’s more than six decades of work and research investments (totaling over $1 billion) to advance blood cancer treatment and cures.
“We are proud to team up with LLS on this transformational approach to empowering and supporting patients through our expert oncology specialized pharmacies across the country,” Richard Ashworth, president of Walgreens’ Pharmacy and Retail Operations, said in a press release. “With our aligned missions and commitment to serving patients and families, LLS and Walgreens will make an even greater impact on the health and care of the nearly 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with or in remission from a blood cancer.”
With new therapies like oral treatments allowing for blood cancers to be more easily managed in the home, specialized pharmacists in communities are well-positioned to aid in patient care, assist people in transitioning to alternative treatments, and providing access to newer therapies. The collaboration is meant to improve the life of patients, their families and patient caregivers in three key ways:
- By providing educational tools and resources to enhance patient assistance
- By implementing a pharmacist education and training program to make sure pharmacists are aware of important aspects of the cancer care continuum and can provide any additional support
- By improving community engagement and corporate support for LLS’s Light the Night Walk, a national fundraiser.
“Today, new treatments for blood cancers are entering the healthcare arena at an unprecedented rate. And these treatments are extending patients’ lives by years, even decades,” said LLS president and chief executive officer, Louis J. DeGennaro. “Our collaboration with industry leader, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, assures that patients and their caregivers have timely access to high-quality, up-to-date information to best manage their disease.”
While improving treatments have led to better survival rates for blood cancer patients, more than a third of all patients still do not live five years beyond their initial diagnosis. Way of preventing or screening for the majority of blood cancers are also still unknown.
