BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has shared that she is living with blood cancer, a condition she has managed for two years. Moshiri, a prominent anchor for the British broadcaster, stated that she chose to disclose her diagnosis to help raise awareness about the disease.
"It's been two years since my diagnosis and I've felt that I've started to understand the disease a lot better and the way it affects my life. I've got a handle on it to a degree now, so I felt it was really important to raise awareness," Moshiri, 49, told the BBC. "I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life being treated for this."
Moshiri was diagnosed in November 2024 with polycythaemia vera (PV), a rare but treatable blood cancer that cannot be cured but can be managed effectively. In this condition, the body produces an excess of red blood cells, leading to thicker blood and an increased risk of blood clots, which can cause strokes or heart attacks.
Symptoms of PV can include headaches, confusion, dizziness, and blurred vision. Moshiri noted that she was initially asymptomatic, and her condition was detected only because her general practitioner conducted thorough routine blood tests. "Mostly I had no symptoms and that's one of the problems with this disease," she said.
Her initial treatment involved several intensive, hour-long venesection sessions, a procedure to draw blood and reduce its thickness. "In about a space of five months, I had venesection seven or eight times. So you can imagine my iron levels hit the floor and I felt even more exhausted," she recalled. "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, Moshiri began immunotherapy treatment with interferon through the National Health Service (NHS). Following adjustments to her treatment, she reported feeling significantly better. "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 stated. "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."
While Moshiri acknowledges she is not the same person she was two years ago, she feels much improved. According to the charity Blood Cancer UK, PV can, in rare instances, develop into myelofibrosis or acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).