BBC News presenter reveals she has blood cancer

I've got a handle on it to a degree now, so I felt it was really important to raise awareness," the 49-year-old said."I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life being treated for this," she added.Moshiri was diagnosed in November 2024 with polycythaemia vera (PV) – a rare, treatable blood cancer.

Although it cannot be cured, it can be managed effectively.In PV, your body makes too many red blood cells, which makes the blood thicker than normal.It leads to a higher risk of developing blood clots, which can cause a stroke, heart attack or deep vein thrombosis (DVT).Symptoms can include headaches, confusion, dizziness and blurred vision."I was told by my consultant that I have this incurable blood cancer," she said."Mostly I….

So you can imagine my iron levels hit the floor and I felt even more exhausted," she said."After a while I started feeling extremely unwell and tired.

I started losing my hair, I got itchy all over my body, but the main symptom was fatigue."Later, The World Today presenter was able to get on an immunotherapy treatment called interferon through the NHS, and after some tweaks, she says she is in a better place."I've only needed one venosection in about 15 months, so that's been really good.

The last couple of months have been better than the last two years," she said."I think it's really important people understand that this blood cancer is incurable but it's manageable with the right treatment and you can lead a relatively healthy life."It's just a question of finding the right treatment and making sure it works for you."She admits she is "not the person I was two years ago" but says….

When I say things like 'mummy is too tired to play with you', they get it and they don't push it," she said.Helen Rowntree, chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, said: "We're so grateful to Maryam for bravely sharing her story.

When public figures speak openly about their diagnosis, it cuts through the silence that so often surrounds blood cancer – the UK's fifth most common cancer and third biggest cancer killer."Rowntree said blood cancer can feel like a "silent" cancer as patients can present with vague, hard to spot symptoms, and highlighted that many with the disease manage their illness, treatment and side-effects alongside work and family life."We urgently need….

Hopefully they'll be some sort of advancement that will help even more than these medications I've been given," Moshiri added.

Maryam Moshiri tells the BBC she wanted to reveal her diagnosis to raise awareness about the cancer.