Lauren Laverne reveals rare blood disorder after cancer battle
BBC presenter Lauren Laverne has shared that she has been diagnosed with the rare condition smouldering myeloma, explaining that she does not currently need treatment and hopes speaking openly will encourage others to seek medical advice.
Lauren Laverne has revealed she has been diagnosed with the rare blood and bone marrow disorder smouldering myeloma.
Less than two years after announcing she had been diagnosed with cancer that was caught during routine screening, the BBC presenter and Radio 6 Music host, 48, shared the news with followers on Instagram, saying she currently feels well, does not need treatment and hopes speaking publicly about her diagnosis will encourage others to seek medical advice if they have concerns.
Lauren, who is best known for her long-running BBC Radio 6 Music programme and as the presenter of Desert Island Discs, as well as her appearances on The One Show, explained the condition was discovered during ongoing monitoring following her previous illness.
According to Myeloma UK, smouldering myeloma is an early form of the blood cancer myeloma in which abnormal cells can be detected in the bone marrow and abnormal protein is found in the blood and/or urine.
Lauren stressed her condition is unrelated to either her previous cancer diagnosis or her recent surgery, adding that her individual risk of developing blood cancer is “pretty low”.
Lauren said online: “Hi. So – personal news.
“I’m quite a private person by nature but am sharing this as one of the many things I’ve learned after going through health challenges in recent years is that talking about this stuff helps people.
“I’ve been diagnosed with something called smouldering myeloma. (yes that is a weird name and no I’ve never heard of it either.)
“It’s an asymptomatic blood and bone marrow disorder that in some people can develop into blood cancer.
“Thankfully for me the risk of this happening in my case is pretty low.”
She continued: “At the moment I feel OK and don’t need treatment.
“Most people my age who have it have no idea – it tends to be cancer survivors like me who are diagnosed early as we’re so carefully monitored.
“It has nothing to do with my previous illness or my recent surgery, it’s just one of those things.
“It is a chronic condition – no cure yet – and it does mean my immune system is a bit compromised, so I will need to take good care of myself and I will be carefully monitored with blood tests, MRIs and bone marrow biopsies (which I have recently discovered are even less fun than they sound.)”
Lauren added her diagnosis had been difficult to process so soon after her previous health battle, but said seeing others in the public eye discuss similar experiences had helped her.
She said: “It’s been a lot, especially coming less than two years after my last diagnosis, but I know that seeing others in the public eye with comparable situations has helped me, so I thought I’d be upfront about it.
“I’ve had some difficult experiences in the last eight years, but I have learned more from them than some people do in a lifetime and that is helping me right now. I am so grateful for that.”
Thanking those who have supported her, Lauren wrote: “I also want to say thank you to my family, friends and the 6 Music team for their love and support and to the doctors, consultants and nurses who have been helping me as well as my brilliant therapist, and my wonderful GP who are both always in my corner.
“This is the second big problem my GP has caught early and it is frankly impossible to adequately express my gratitude.
“I was pretty blasé about my persistently low iron levels but he insisted we get to the bottom of what was going on.
“My message to others would be be like him, not me!
“Advocate for yourself if you need to and ask to see a haematologist if you are in the same situation.”
Lauren said she would be taking a short holiday before returning to work as normal.
She concluded: “I’m taking a couple of weeks holiday and will be back to work as normal after that.
“I feel like I have more to say about this and the other experiences I’ve had, so maybe I’ll find a place to do that soon.
“For now, lots of love, especially to anyone dealing with a similar issue.
“LL xx.”
Among those who responded publicly to the news was Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, who said: “Oh Lauren – hate that this is coming at you on top of everything else – sending you love and healing and you are right you will have helped so many by speaking up xx.”
Former Loose Women panellist Andrea McLean commented: “I’m so sorry to hear this Laverne. Thank you for sharing, you will have helped so many.”
ITV doctor Amir Khan added: “Oh Lauren sending you all the love. You are such a wonderful beautiful person. Please call me if you need.”
The announcement comes after Lauren revealed in August 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, which she said had been detected unexpectedly during a screening test.
She did not disclose the type of cancer but said doctors expected her to make a full recovery.
At the time, Lauren said: “I recently had a cancer diagnosis. It was (thank God) caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test and I am expected to make a full recovery.
“I’m in hospital at the moment and wanted to take this moment to say thank you: firstly to medical teams who have got me this far with incredible skill and kindness.
“To my family and friends who have been absolutely extraordinary every step of the way – I am so very grateful and love you so much.
“And of course thank you to my colleagues…. for their support and for giving me the time off that I need to get better.”
She also urged people not to delay health checks, saying: “If you’re avoiding a test or putting off an appointment to get yourself checked out please, please do it today.
“Half of us will get cancer at some point, and if you do, finding out asap is everything.”
Before becoming one of the BBC’s most recognisable broadcasters, Lauren found success in the 1990s as the lead singer and guitarist of indie rock band Kenickie.
Following the group’s split in 1998, she moved into broadcasting, building a career across BBC television and radio, where she has become one of the corporation’s best-known presenters through BBC Radio 6 Music, Desert Island Discs and The One Show.
