Oncology | Practice Insights

Managing head and neck cancers

Dr. Natascha Ekawati Putri, 20200513110001

Head and neck cancers encompass a wide spectrum of disease, ranging from carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, pharynx, larynx), to tumours of the skin and salivary glands, to sinonasal malignancies.

Managing nasopharyngeal cancer

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Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a disease in which cancer cells develop from the tissues of the nasopharynx – an area located behind the nose, just above the back of the throat. Chinese from endemic regions such as Hong Kong and Southern China have the highest risk of getting NPC. NPC is the ninth most common cancer among men in Singapore with the highest incidence in Chinese followed by Malays and is rare among Indians. [Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Registry Report, Trends in Cancer Incidence in Singapore 2015]

[HKU Medical Grand Rounds] Angels and demons: Immunotherapy for treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Dr. Bryan Li, Dr. Gerry Kwok, Dr. Thomas Yau, 20190807035449

Case 1: A 59-year-old gentleman with advanced HCC was referred to our centre for management. He had a history of diabetes, hypertension and ischaemic heart disease. He was a nondrinker and not a carrier of hepatitis B or C.

Case 2: A 65-year-old man with a history of alcoholic cirrhosis and oesophageal varices was found to have rising AFP levels on routine follow-up. He also had a 3-year history of diabetes and was on diet control, with an HbA_1c of 6.2 percent and fasting glucose of 6.8 mmol/L. He did not need any diabetic medications.

[HKU Medical Grand Rounds] Angels and demons: Immunotherapy for treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer

Dr. Johnny Chang, Dr. Roland Leung, 20190615000000

Immunotherapy is gaining increasing attention in Oncology. It works by stimulating or modulating the immune system to fight malignant tumours. While immunotherapy can achieve favourable response in many cancers, it also carries the risk of severe, or even life-threatening, immune-related adverse events (IRAEs). Here we present two cases of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) demonstrating how immunotherapy can be the angel and demon of cancer medicines.

Managing thyroid cancer

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The eighth most common cancer among women in Singapore, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased exponentially in the past decades. Fortunately, the most common types of thyroid cancer carry an excellent prognosis and are rarely the cause of mortality if detected early and treated.