2025 Blood Cancer Awareness Month
‘Do You #kNOwMyeloma?’ reaches more than 25 million in 62 countries!
By Peter Anton, IMF Vice President, Marketing
For the 2025 Blood Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) revived its highly successful #kNOwMyeloma campaign, centering on the question: “Do You Know Myeloma?”
Reaching more than 25 million in 62 countries, the IMF’s BCAM educational campaign expanded awareness of multiple myeloma – from those who have no knowledge of the disease to those living with myeloma. The campaign also inspired participants to continue advocating for those impacted by the second-most common blood cancer in the world.
By motivating individuals to ask questions and educate themselves about multiple myeloma, and by encouraging them to share these learnings via social media, the IMF successfully attained its goal of fostering active and interactive participation from the myeloma community.
“Do You Know Myeloma?” also inspired advocacy and provided knowledge about treatment options, wellness advice, supportive care, and research developments for those living with myeloma through its two-pronged approach.
KNOW Myeloma
The IMF educated the public and those living with the disease by:
- Informing them on symptoms, early diagnosis, tests and staging, and other essential information about myeloma
- Making them aware of the IMF’s wealth of myeloma-related resources and publications, and the IMF’s InfoLine team, which addresses myeloma-related questions and concerns
- Raising awareness on the high incidence of myeloma among those of African descent
- Affirming the IMF Support Group team’s crucial role in empowering patients and care partners with information, insight, and hope
- Providing vital information and helpful advice on self-care for care partners
NO Myeloma
The IMF aimed to eradicate myeloma by inspiring people to advocate for the IMF’s mission of working toward prevention and a cure through:
- Disseminating information about the IMF’s research initiatives, and other major developments in myeloma research
- Raising awareness of existing as well as new and breakthrough treatment options, such as CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibody immunotherapy
- Providing information about the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG)
- Affirming the Global Myeloma Action Network’s (GMAN) important global mission and goals in improving access to medicine and treatment; increasing myeloma awareness; and building capacity for patients, patient advocates, and myeloma organizations across the globe
- Advocating for early detection and diagnosis among African Americans, who are at a higher risk for myeloma
- Spreading the word about the M-Power Project and its objectives: improving the short- and long-term outcomes of African American myeloma patients and breaking down barriers for the African American myeloma community
- Presenting the latest updates on ongoing clinical trials and FDA drug approvals for the treatment of myeloma
- Increasing fundraising efforts for the IMF’s research initiatives
The IMF’s Blood Cancer Awareness Month website provided downloadable infographics on myeloma facts, research breakthroughs in myeloma treatment, and inspirational stories of hope and resilience from those living with the disease through the IMF’s social media tool kit. These were then shared extensively in social media while using the hashtag #kNOwMyeloma.
Through a series of Facebook LIVE events, the IMF shared information based on its four founding principles – Research, Education, Support, and Advocacy – while highlighting the crucial role of fundraising in fulfilling the IMF’s mission of improving the quality of life of myeloma patients while working toward prevention and a cure, and its vision of a world where every myeloma patient can live life to the fullest, unburdened by the disease.
- Q&A with Joseph Mikhael, MD (IMF Chief Medical Officer)
- Q&A with Beth Faiman, PhD (IMF Nurse Leadership Board)
The IMF’s Facebook LIVE events with Dr. Mikhael and Dr. Faiman were viewed about 12,000 times as of the date of this publication.
IMF Iceland Cycling Expedition
Coinciding with Blood Cancer Awareness Month was the signature IMF Myeloma Cures fundraiser, the IMF Iceland Cycling Expedition, and you can read more about it in this edition of Myeloma Today.
The IMF is truly grateful to the following sponsors for supporting myeloma awareness during Blood Cancer Awareness Month: Adaptive Biotechnologies, Binding Site, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Karyopharm, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi.
(This article was originally published in the 2025 Fall Edition of the IMF's quarterly publication, Myeloma Today. Read the full publication here.)