SINGAPORE: Under a research collaboration with an Australian company called Sirtex Medical, Singapore will be the first in the world to try out a new treatment for cancer cells.
Sirtex Medical and SingHealth signed a new Master Research Collaboration Agreement where Singapore General Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore will explore the potential of a new technology called Carbon Cage Nanoparticles, targeting cancer cells which may be left behind after an operation.
The research will focus on abdominal cancers, starting with advanced ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Singapore. Researchers will also try the treatment on stomach and colorectal cancers, which are also quite common in Singapore.
When removing abdominal tumours, researchers say there is always a post-surgery risk that tumour cell residues may remain in the abdominal lining.
If these tumour cells aren't eliminated, they can continue to grow to a point where it is life-threatening.
To target these cells, the new technology developed by the Australian National University carries a high dose of radiation enclosed in a carbon casing.
When injected into the abdominal cavity, the new technology can potentially kill specific cancer cells not visible to the naked eye.
Besides carrying a high dose of radiation within the carbon shell, the technology can also carry chemotherapy agents.
Previous methods of removing remaining cancer cells usually involve chemotherapy treatments after operation.
Professor Soo Khee Chee, Deputy Group CEO of SingHealth and Director of National Cancer Centre Singapore, said: "The problem with giving chemotherapy is that if you just give it orally or intravenously, they are fairly non-specific, they circulate through all the whole body and you don't achieve the concentration that is necessary to eliminate tumour cells very effectively."
In five years' time, researchers will introduce the new therapy in human trials. If successful, they say it could be used to treat diseases beyond cancer, such as with patients with immunological disorders.
- CNA/de
SingHealth, Australian firm explore new technology to treat cancer cells
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SingHealth, Australian firm explore new technology to treat cancer cells
