Department of Haematology-Oncology
In the Division of Medical Oncology, the advances have been in new drugs, some being novel or targeted agents. These are in clinical use and the department has been involved in our doctors’ own initiated studies, as well as collaboration with international clinical groups, such as the Cancer Therapeutics Research Group. Clinical trials are undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of these agents that may potentially be more efficacious but have less side effects than traditional chemotherapeutic agents.

Ongoing research is also being performed to further our understanding of cancers and treatment issues in Asian patients. The incidence, presentations and possibility of the causation and treatment options of certain cancers are different for Asian patients compared to Caucasian populations. The differences may be due to genetic differences arising from ethnicity, diet or other environmental factors. These differences are important considerations for screening programmes and may also have an impact on treatment options and response to treatment.

Our areas of research:

• Phase I clinical trials evaluating novel medications in Asian patients
• Applying new agents for treatment of common cancers in our population, especially endemic ones like hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (nose cancer)
• Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomic studies to better understand how to individualise therapy, especially with the knowledge of possible ethnic differences of drug handling and response.

Division of Gynaecological Oncology
In the division of Gynaecological Oncology, the areas of research are:

• molecular and translational research
• clinical trials on vaccines and novel agents
• bio-engineering research