September Is for All of Us: Blood Cancer Awareness Month, World Lymphoma Awareness Day, and Rare Cancer Awareness Day
Every September, the blood cancer community comes together for Blood Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), on September 15, World Lymphoma Awareness Day (WLAD), and on September 23, Rare Cancer Awareness Day.
These dates exist because patients, caregivers, and advocates asked the world to pay attention — and because attention has always been the first step toward research, better care, and the promise that no patient travels this road alone.
A little history
- World Lymphoma Awareness Day was established in 2004 by the Lymphoma Coalition, a global network of more than 80 lymphoma patient organizations, to raise awareness of lymphoma — the most common blood cancer worldwide (Lymphoma Coalition).
- Blood Cancer Awareness Month was designated by the U.S. Congress in 2010, driven in large part by the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s advocacy work (Lymphoma Research Foundation).
- Rare Cancer Awareness Day on September 23 was established by the NORD Rare Cancer Coalition in 2018 and is now formally recognized by a bipartisan U.S. Congressional resolution. The day shines a light on the roughly 1 in 5 Americans with cancer whose diagnosis is considered rare — including everyone touched by mantle cell lymphoma.
- Each September, peer organizations we admire — the Lymphoma Research Foundation, Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society), and the Lymphoma Coalition — turn landmarks red, host giving days, and rally communities.
Why it matters — especially for mantle cell lymphoma
Lymphoma often gets less public attention than other cancers, and within lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is rarer still. That rarity has real consequences: patients can face delayed diagnosis, fewer specialists nearby, less research funding, and the isolating feeling that no one else understands what they are going through.
Awareness in September is how we change that. Every share, every follow, every conversation makes it easier for the next newly diagnosed patient or family to find accurate information, an MCL specialist, a clinical trial, or simply someone who has walked this road before.
This year we join with the Lymphoma Coalition to invite MCL patients to take the No Patient Travels Alone pledge — a call to speak openly about the lymphoma experience so no one has to face the diagnosis alone.
How you can help this September
1. Follow us and share our posts. Our reach is only as big as our community makes it. Every follow, like, and share puts MCL information in front of someone who may need it — a newly diagnosed patient, a caregiver Googling at 2 a.m., a clinician outside a major cancer center.
- Facebook: facebook.com/MantleCellAlliance
- Instagram: @mantlecellalliance
- LinkedIn: Mantle Cell Lymphoma Alliance
2. Join MCLA Voices. If you are living with MCL, caring for someone who is, or have been personally affected by this disease, MCLA Voices is our network for shaping the work we do — from research priorities to patient programs. Voices members share as much or as little as they choose, and every voice makes sure no MCL patient or caregiver travels this road alone.
3. Have an honest conversation. Following the No Patient Travels Alone pledge, take one moment this September to tell someone — a family member, a friend, your care team — something you have been holding back about your MCL experience. Awareness begins with the courage to say it out loud.
4. Watch for our September campaign. Later this month we will unveil our September fundraising campaign — an opportunity to fuel MCL-specific research, patient support, and community building. Every dollar raised in September stays focused on the disease we exist to serve.
Help us amplify the message
When you post or share this September, please tag us and use the community hashtags so MCL is part of the global conversation:
#MCLA #MantleCellLymphoma #WLAD2026 #WorldLymphomaAwarenessDay #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth #BCAM #LymphomaAwareness