David Brill
A new Singapore center could help raise childhood cancer survival rates across Asia, thanks to a recent $24 million funding boost.
The money will expand treatment facilities and strengthen research at the Viva-University Children’s Cancer Centre, which has already treated some 40 overseas children and begun training visiting specialists.
Around four out of five children with leukemia are cured in Singapore but in nearby countries this figure can be as low as one in 20.
“There is an urgent need for us to respond to the cries of children with cancer in Singapore and the whole region,” said Mrs. Jennifer Yeo, director and secretary of Singapore-based Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer.
“We are confident that with the support of all our donors, volunteers and strategic partners we can save many young lives,” she said.
The center, known as VUC3, has been operational for a year but was officially opened last month. Two specialists from the Philippines have already trained there, and one each from Myanmar and Brunei are currently in training.
The new funding comprises a $12 million gift from the Goh Foundation – a nonprofit private group – matched like-for-like by the Singapore government.
Four main research programs will be established, comprising bone marrow transplantation, childhood leukemia, bone cancer and ‘after completion of therapy,’ which focuses on the long-term impact of cancer treatment. This research will have a strong translational clinical focus with a view to raising cure rates, lowering treatment costs and minimizing side effects, said Associate Professor Allen Yeoh, medical director of VUC3.
“This will provide us with a quantum leap in the care of childhood cancer in Singapore, and help ensure that no child dies in the dawn of life. In the current severe recessionary climate, we are truly grateful to the Goh Foundation for their generosity,” said Yeoh, also a consultant at the University Children’s Medical Institute, National University Hospital, which houses VUC3.
Pediatric cancer survival is “dismal” in low-income countries, according to a study published last year. Five-year survival in the Philippines was estimated at 10 percent and in Vietnam just 5 percent. [Lancet Oncol 2008 Aug;9:721-9]
Between 120 and 140 new pediatric cancer cases are diagnosed in Singapore each year – some 40 percent of which are leukemia. Around 40 local children have been treated at VUC3 so far.
The center has already installed five new bone marrow transplant rooms and raised the number of inpatient beds from 12 to 17. The funding has also helped establish the Viva-Goh Foundation Professorship in Pediatric Oncology.
VUC3, built at a cost of $5 million from the Singapore Tote Board and Viva Foundation, is working closely with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, US – one of the world’s leading childhood cancer centers.
The money will expand treatment facilities and strengthen research at the Viva-University Children’s Cancer Centre, which has already treated some 40 overseas children and begun training visiting specialists.
Around four out of five children with leukemia are cured in Singapore but in nearby countries this figure can be as low as one in 20.
“There is an urgent need for us to respond to the cries of children with cancer in Singapore and the whole region,” said Mrs. Jennifer Yeo, director and secretary of Singapore-based Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer.
“We are confident that with the support of all our donors, volunteers and strategic partners we can save many young lives,” she said.
The center, known as VUC3, has been operational for a year but was officially opened last month. Two specialists from the Philippines have already trained there, and one each from Myanmar and Brunei are currently in training.
The new funding comprises a $12 million gift from the Goh Foundation – a nonprofit private group – matched like-for-like by the Singapore government.
Four main research programs will be established, comprising bone marrow transplantation, childhood leukemia, bone cancer and ‘after completion of therapy,’ which focuses on the long-term impact of cancer treatment. This research will have a strong translational clinical focus with a view to raising cure rates, lowering treatment costs and minimizing side effects, said Associate Professor Allen Yeoh, medical director of VUC3.
“This will provide us with a quantum leap in the care of childhood cancer in Singapore, and help ensure that no child dies in the dawn of life. In the current severe recessionary climate, we are truly grateful to the Goh Foundation for their generosity,” said Yeoh, also a consultant at the University Children’s Medical Institute, National University Hospital, which houses VUC3.
Pediatric cancer survival is “dismal” in low-income countries, according to a study published last year. Five-year survival in the Philippines was estimated at 10 percent and in Vietnam just 5 percent. [Lancet Oncol 2008 Aug;9:721-9]
Between 120 and 140 new pediatric cancer cases are diagnosed in Singapore each year – some 40 percent of which are leukemia. Around 40 local children have been treated at VUC3 so far.
The center has already installed five new bone marrow transplant rooms and raised the number of inpatient beds from 12 to 17. The funding has also helped establish the Viva-Goh Foundation Professorship in Pediatric Oncology.
VUC3, built at a cost of $5 million from the Singapore Tote Board and Viva Foundation, is working closely with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, US – one of the world’s leading childhood cancer centers.
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