You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page.
Turn on more accessible mode
Turn off more accessible mode
Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Turn off Animations
Turn on Animations
Sprinting towards better outcomes for patients
It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Please turn on JavaScript and try again.
Appointment
Find a Condition or Treatment
Find a Doctor
Menu
MAIN
Back to Home
About Us
Corporate Profile
Newsroom
Visitors Information
Contact Us
Patient Care
Specialties & Services
Your Clinic Visit
Cancer Information & Patient Support
E-Services
Find a Doctor
Research & Innovation
Research Labs
Programmes
Facilities
Our Researchers
Clinical Trials
SingHealth Research
Education & Training
Overview
Professional Development
Division of Cancer Education
Events
SingHealth Academy
Careers
Sponsorship
Scholarships
Giving
Why Give
Get Involved
Your Gift at Work
Be Informed
Make a Gift
Our Campaign
Volunteer
Specialties & Services
Back to Home
Goh Cheng Liang Proton Therapy Centre
Haematology
Medical Oncology
Surgery & Surgical Oncology, SGH and NCCS
Radiation Oncology
Oncologic Imaging
Supportive & Palliative Care
Comprehensive Liver Cancer Clinic
Cancer Genetics Service
Lung Multidisciplinary Clinic
Nursing
NCCS Oncology @ SKH
NCCS Oncology Clinic @ CGH
Department of Psychosocial Oncology
Cancer Education and Information
Your Clinic Visit
Back to Home
Book an Appointment
When seeing a doctor
Pharmacy
Outpatient Pharmacy
Oncology Pharmacy
Search a medication
FAQ
Medicine
Charges & Payment
Financial Aid
Video Consultation
Cancer Information & Patient Support
Back to Home
For Patients
For Caregivers
Publications
Cancer Information Booklets
In Good Health
Inspirational Patient & Caregiver Awards
Patient Stories
E-Services
Back to Home
Make/Change/Cancel Appointment
Request for Medical Report
Health Buddy App
Find a Doctor
Home
to skip to the main content on a page
to skip to the main content on a page
About Us
Back to Home
Corporate Profile
Vision & Mission
NCCS Leadership
Annual Report
Awards
Key Milestones
Whistle-blowing Policy
Newsroom
Press Releases
Check Fake News
Visitors Information
Contact Us
Feedback Form
Patient Care
Back to Home
Specialties & Services
Goh Cheng Liang Proton Therapy Centre
Haematology
Medical Oncology
Surgery & Surgical Oncology, SGH and NCCS
Radiation Oncology
Oncologic Imaging
Supportive & Palliative Care
Comprehensive Liver Cancer Clinic
Cancer Genetics Service
Lung Multidisciplinary Clinic
Nursing
NCCS Oncology @ SKH
NCCS Oncology Clinic @ CGH
Department of Psychosocial Oncology
Cancer Education and Information
Your Clinic Visit
Book an Appointment
When seeing a doctor
Pharmacy
Medicine
Charges & Payment
Financial Aid
Video Consultation
Cancer Information & Patient Support
For Patients
For Caregivers
Publications
Patient Stories
E-Services
Make/Change/Cancel Appointment
Request for Medical Report
Health Buddy App
Find a Doctor
Research & Innovation
Back to Home
Research Labs
Cellular & Molecular Research
Medical Sciences
Clinical Trials & Epidemiological Sciences
NCCS Research Committee & Scientific Advisory Board
Research Divisions Organisation Chart
Programmes
Disease Focus
Research Themes
Joint Breast Cancer Registry
Asia-Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma Trials Group
The VICTORY Consortium
Facilities
Overview
Specialised Units
Shared Facilities
Shared Services
Research Contracts and Commercialisation
Our Researchers
Division of Medical Oncology
Division of Surgery & Surgical Oncology, SGH and NCCS
Division of Radiation Oncology
Division of Oncologic Imaging
Division of Supportive and Palliative Care
Cellular and Molecular Research
Division of Medical Sciences
Clinical Trials & Epidemiological Sciences
Research Biennial Book
Clinical Trials
About Clinical Trials
Current Clinical Trials
ECRU
About Clinical Trials & Epidemiological Sciences
Clinical Trials Office
Biostatistics and Epidemiology Unit
SingHealth Research
Education & Training
Back to Home
Overview
Professional Development
Continuing Medical Education
Continuing Nursing Education
Continuing Pharmacist Education
Division of Cancer Education
Undergraduate Education Unit
Postgraduate Education Unit
Nursing & Allied Health Education Unit
Faculty Development & Support Education Unit
Primary Care Oncology Education Unit
Communications, Mentoring, Ethics and Professionalism Education Unit
Medical Humanities Education Unit
Events
SingHealth Academy
Careers
Back to Home
Sponsorship
Career Conversion Programme
Scholarships
Giving
Back to Home
Why Give
About Us
Funding Innovative Research
Preventing Cancer
Advancing Medical Education
Helping Our Patients
Furthering Donor Impact
How Your Gift Helps
Get Involved
Honouring Your Gift
Become a Corporate Donor
Leave Your Legacy
Fundraise for Us
Join a Special Event
Your Gift at Work
Stories of Hope
Researchers in Action
Support for Patients
Our Work in the Community
Training Future Experts
Be Informed
Our Publications
Financial Statements
Make a Gift
Our Campaign
Make More Survivors
Jeans For Genes
Women VS Cancer
BCAM 2023
LCAM 2023
Volunteer
Home
>
Patient Care
>
Sprinting towards better outcomes for rare cancers
Sprinting towards better outcomes for rare cancers
Facebook
WhatsApp
Email Us
share
Font Resize
A-
A
A+
Print
By: Dharshini Subbiah
Page Content
"The first thing that you need to do is convince people of the need for a comprehensive peritoneal disease centre, just as you have done here," said eminent peritoneal disease expert, Professor Beate Rau, Head of Special Surgical Oncology, Charite Medical University of Berlin at the keynote lecture at the first SingHealth Peritoneal Surface Oncology Conference held in August.
Professor Rau was referring to the Department of Sarcoma, Peritoneal and Rare Tumours or SPRinT in the Division of Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Singapore General Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), headed by Associate Professor Claramae Chia. SPRinT is a one-stop centre for sarcoma, peritoneal, melanoma and rare tumours, significantly changing how these rare diseases are managed to improve patient outcomes.
What SPRinT does different
A
ssoc
Prof
Claramae Chia, Head of the Department of Sarcoma, Peritoneal and Rare Tumours, delivered the inaugural SingHealth Peritoneal Surface Oncology Conference's opening address
Up until a decade ago, peritoneal surface malignancies were considered rare and had poor prognoses. Since then understanding of the origin and incidence of the disease had improved significantly. We now know that the majority of peritoneal surface malignancies arise from tumours in the abdomen, ovaries and liver, and not just from the peritoneum. Continuous innovation in treatment and management has meant that these patients now live longer with better quality of life.
In 2019, SPRinT was formed as a dedicated surgical oncology service to manage peritoneal carcinomatosis, soft tissue sarcoma, melanoma and rare tumours at varying stages of disease, regardless of tumour origin. In most hospitals worldwide, treatment for these cancers are organ-centric with complex surgeries performed in low volumes by surgeons in different subspecialties. Because of this there is often a lack of standardised care and there is a risk of either under or over treating patients.
SPRinT seeks to address these gaps by managing a relatively high volume of an average of 600 cases a year with outcomes comparable to other high-volume centres around the world. Surgeons lead the team and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of oncologists, radiologists, scientists and nurses. The SPRinT team performs an average of 50 cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedures each year and have completed more than 65 pressurised intraperitoneal aerosolised chemotherapy (PIPAC) procedures in the past 18 months.
Using research to improve treatment
Asst Prof Johnny Ong (left) and Josephine Hendrikson from the Laboratory of Applied Human Genetics led research that led to a paradigm shifting discovery in how cancer can be targeted
Research is key to improving patient outcomes and is crucial to SPRinT's mission. Headed by SPRinT Senior Consultant, Assistant Professor Johnny Ong, the Laboratory of Applied Human Genetics at NCCS found that ascites, the excess fluid build-up in the abdomen of peritoneal disease patients, could be made an inhospitable environment for cancer and inhibit its growth. By interrogating the proteins in ascites, the team identified PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor 1), a key paracrine factor, to be a reliable marker of response to direct inhibition and curb cancer cell proliferation.
The team published the results of their paradigm shifting study in
Cell Reports Medicine
earlier this year and filed a patent that is recognised in Singapore, the United States, Europe and China. Working with partners, and collaborators in Singapore and internationally to exploit this discovery, they are now conducting studies and developing therapeutics to treat peritoneal and various other cancers in the future.
The SPRinT team is also studying current treatment modalities and their effect on patients' quality of life. One study followed 150 patients who had undergone CRS and HIPEC at NCCS from 2012 to 2017 and found that certain aspects of quality of life had improved, especially emotional functioning. A separate study of peritoneal metastasis patients who had undergone PIPAC showed the procedure reduced symptoms and also improved quality of life. The findings also showed that these treatments do not adversely impact patients' quality of life, something that clinicians carefully consider when recommending and planning treatment for each patient.
Fostering innovation and collaboration in the region
The inaugural SingHealth Peritoneal Surface Oncology Conference in August 2022 marked the first collaborative effort between SingHealth, the Peritoneal Surface Oncology Group International and the European Society of Surgical Oncology
Building on its forward momentum, SPRinT organised the inaugural SingHealth Peritoneal Surface Oncology Conference, a hybrid event held in August 2022. The meeting marked the first collaborative effort between SingHealth, the Peritoneal Surface Oncology Group International and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. A total of 141 local and overseas delegates, 10 chairpersons and 10 distinguished speakers participated.
"To continue pushing the boundaries of clinical care, we must keep up to date with the latest studies, treatment modalities and expert recommendations on how to deal with the debilitating disease," said Assoc Prof Chia, who was also one of the Conference Chairpersons.
Experts at the Conference included Professor Paul Sugarbaker, Director of the Program in Peritoneal Surface Malignancy, Washington Cancer Institute, widely known as the father of the HIPEC procedure. During his key plenary lecture at the Conference, he shared that HIPEC, the procedure he pioneered, needed updating. He challenged attendees to innovate how chemotherapy is delivered, improve drug selection and continue to find ways to improve outcomes for patients with peritoneal disease.
It is in this spirit of fearlessness and putting patients first that SPRinT continues to race ahead to find better ways of treating this group of rare cancers.
10/7/2022 8:56 AM
×
SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the updates to your email inbox...
Find a Doctor
Condition & Treatment
Home
Appointment
E-services