'Major announcement' set for UAMS Myeloma Institute

Gov. Mike Beebe will be among those on hand for a "major announcement" this week regarding the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, officials said Monday.

Details on what is to be announced at the Tuesday morning event weren't immediately clear. A spokesman for UAMS declined to provide further details, though she did say it would include news of a contribution to the facility.

"It does involve that, but that's not all that it is," spokesman Leslie Taylor said. "This is something that will really impact the care of myeloma patients and the future of the Myeloma Institute."

A news release from UAMS said Beebe, UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, institute founder and director Dr. Bart Barlogie and others would attend the announcement on the tenth floor of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

UAMS says the institute is a "world leader" in the field and was the first facility in the world dedicated specifically to research and clinical care of multiple myeloma. Patients have been treated there from every state in the United States and more than 50 foreign countries.

Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, which are found in bone marrow.

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