Lauren Laverne diagnosed with blood and bone marrow disorder

Broadcaster Lauren Laverne has revealed she has been diagnosed with a blood and bone marrow disorder that can lead to blood cancer, but stressed that “at the moment I feel OK and don’t need treatment”.

The BBC One Show, Desert Island Discs and 6 Music host, 48, wrote on Instagram: “I’ve been diagnosed with something called smouldering myeloma (yes that is a weird name and no I’d never heard of it either).

“It’s an asymptomatic blood and bone marrow disorder that in some people can develop into blood cancer.”

The diagnosis comes two years after Laverne was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer, and she said in November 2024 that she had received the “all clear” following treatment.

Smouldering myeloma has no symptoms and does not require treatment but can develop into myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

Laverne said the risk of that happening in her case was “pretty low”.

She said most people of her age “have no idea” they have smouldering myeloma. “It tends to be cancer survivors like me who are diagnosed early as we’re so carefully monitored,” she wrote.

“It has nothing to do with my previous illness or my recent surgery, it’s just one of those things.”

She continued: “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).

“It’s been a lot, especially coming less than two years after my last diagnosis, but l know that seeing others in the public eye cope with comparable situations has helped me, so I thought I’d be upfront about it.”

She also thanked her doctor. “This is the second Big Problem my GP has caught early and it is frankly impossible to adequately express my gratitude,” she wrote.

“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.”

Laverne said she is now taking a couple of weeks’ holiday and “will be back to work as normal after that”.

She added: “For now lots of love, especially to anyone dealing with similar issues. LL xx”

According to Myeloma UK, smouldering myeloma is detected by the presence of abnormal cells in the bone marrow, and abnormal protein in blood and/or urine.

Patients are regularly monitored for signs that they are developing active myeloma or related conditions.

Smouldering myeloma usually develops into active myeloma at some time, but how long that takes varies, according to the charity.