BBC newsreader Maryam Moshiri reveals rare blood cancer diagnosis

Maryam, 49, who presents The World Today, was diagnosed with Polycythaemia vera (PV) in November 2024 after routine hormone tests showed abnormally high levels of red blood cells. PV is a rare, chronic blood cancer caused by a JAK2 gene mutation, affecting an estimated 8,810 people in the UK.

“When I was first told to have blood tests, I wasn’t worried because I didn’t really have any symptoms. I thought: It can’t happen to me,” she says.

“Even after I was told I had PV, I didn’t really understand what it meant. It was a cruel blow to realise that while I could have treatment, this was a cancer that was incurable.”

Maryam is sharing her diagnosis to raise awareness of Blood Cancer UK, which provides support through its helpline and online forum and funds research into kinder, more effective treatments. She wants to highlight the reality of “silent cancers” — chronic conditions people manage daily while appearing outwardly well.

Because PV increases the risk of blood clots, strokes and heart attacks, Maryam began taking daily aspirin and underwent regular venesections to reduce her red blood cell count.

She says: “The treatments were working but they left me feeling really weak with horrendous fatigue, like someone had taken your batteries out.”

Despite symptoms, she continued presenting major global news stories such as the death of Pope Francis, the arrest of Prince Andrew and the Iran War.

She says: “When you do live news you get a rush of adrenaline, but I was doing long days under pressure while dealing with chronic tiredness. Back home I would zonk out on the sofa for hours to recover.

“It really made me reflect on the fact that there are so many misconceptions about blood cancer and the fact it’s a ‘silent or hidden’ cancer.

“People think you have chemotherapy and then you are cancer-free but for many people like me it is a chronic condition. You have to live with it, the treatments and the side effects around your everyday life, and that’s hard.”

As her symptoms worsened, Maryam researched her condition and discovered she was eligible for Interferon, a treatment that boosts the immune system. Under the care of specialist consultant Professor Claire Harrison, she began regular injections but the side effects were severe.

She says: “I had constant headaches, insomnia and horrendous itching that felt like it came from inside my body. I was itching until I was bleeding through my clothes. I have scars all over my stomach.”

By Summer 2025, she reached a low point.

She says: “My iron levels were low and the treatment was making me feel so unwell. I remember going to my GP and crying. I was trying to work, look after three children, and support my elderly parents, including my dad who had dementia.”

In November 2025, Maryam switched to Pegasys, a weekly injection which was approved for patients earlier that year.

While it still caused fatigue, it proved effective for Maryam and had fewer side effects.

The diagnosis has affected Maryam’s family life, with husband Jonathan and particularly with her children Iris, 13, Vivienne, 11, and Caspian, 9.

She says: “I didn’t tell the kids about my diagnosis for a long time, but eventually I had to explain why I couldn’t play football with them or was spending so long on the sofa.

“When I told my daughters I had chronic cancer, they asked: Are you going to die, Mummy? It was awful.”

Maryam also kept her diagnosis from her mother for a year while her father was unwell. She says: “In the end I was exhausted and not the same person. I needed to explain why I wasn’t going to family events or out as much.”

September marks Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and Maryam is supporting Blood Cancer UK’s Here for This campaign, which highlights the moments people with blood cancer miss because they are unwell, in hospital or coping with treatment side effects, and also celebrates the research that helps people reclaim those moments.

Maryam says: “During the worst times I wasn’t there for my kids and I couldn’t exercise. Because there are fewer side effects with this new treatment, I was able to kick a ball about on our recent holiday and do yoga — ordinary but important moments.”

She adds: “A lot of blood cancers are chronic diseases that last a lifetime. This is a silent cancer — you wouldn’t have known I had blood cancer when I was reporting in Rome or Doha.

“I don’t want people to suffer in silence so I am sharing my story so people feel less alone and get help from charities like Blood Cancer UK. I want people to know there is hope, with new treatments and progress being made all the time.”

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.

“Blood cancer is still widely misunderstood and can often feel like a ‘silent cancer’. Many people don’t realise that leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma can present with vague, hard-to-spot symptoms, or that for many people blood cancer is an incurable, lifelong condition.

“There can be an assumption that once cancer treatment ends, people are able to simply move on with their lives. But for many people with blood cancer, the reality is very different. They may be managing an ongoing illness, treatment and side effects alongside work, family life and all the everyday moments that matter to them.

“Our Here for This campaign highlights the moments people with blood cancer can miss because of gruelling treatments, side effects or time spent in hospital, while also celebrating the milestones and moments that research and better treatments make possible.

“We urgently need continued public and government support to fund the next generation of kinder, more effective treatments with fewer side effects, so that more people with blood cancer can live well for the moments that matter.”

To find out more about the Here for This campaign or to get help and support visit bloodcancer.org.uk or call the helpline on 0808 2080 888