Researchers from the Integrated Women’s Health Programme (IWHP) at the National University Hospital (NUH) and the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), conducted two comprehensive studies last year funded by the Singapore National Medical Research Council. The studies revealed that arthralgia was ranked as the top menopausal symptom among midlife Singaporean women.
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Local researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School, National University Hospital and the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, have recently made a breakthrough discovery that will soon help with the early detection of stomach cancer.
Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) - more commonly known as nose cancer - is the third most common cancer among 40 to 49 year old males in Singapore. Due to non-specific symptoms of NPC, the majority of NPC patients tend to be diagnosed with late-stage disease, with less than 10% of patients diagnosed at Stage 1.As such, NUHS has launched a large-scale community-based research study on the effectiveness of using testing for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to help detect nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). This could potentially enable detection of early-stage nose cancer and enhance risk prediction.
Patients in Singapore and the region could benefit from enhanced global access to specialised medical care in the future with the introduction of long-distance robotic telesurgery. Find out more on how that works.
Approximately one in three Singaporeans could be living with early heart disease. To address the growing issue of heart disease in Singapore, a study involving over 10,000 individuals from the general population has been initiated. Named Project RESET, the research programme aims to collect data to assess the prevalence of the disease, discover new biomarkers, and crucially, create innovative prevention strategies for adoption by Singaporeans.
A novel cell-selection technique for blood stem cell transplant, known as the 'Haplo-2017 protocol', developed by a team of haematologists from the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), together with clinicians from other local healthcare institutions, not only makes haploidentical transplant a feasible treatment option for nearly all blood cancer patients, but also reduces transplant-related complications, such as transplant rejection and infections.
A new treatment, developed by local biotech firm CytoMed Therapeutics, treats cancer patients with modified T cells. A two-year trial at NCIS will test this new therapy on nine to 18 patients who have lymphoma, multiple myeloma, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer – six of the most common types of cancers in Singapore.
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Lecanemab shown to slow cognitive decline in study involving 1,795 participants at early stage of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers from the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) and Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at National University of Singapore found that combining two drugs, letrozole and lenvatinib, might help those with advanced-stage breast cancer better control the disease with half of those given the combined therapy saw their tumours shrink or experienced good control of the disease for more than six months.
Singapore scientists have identified and named a new species of bacteria, Staphylococcus singaporensis sp.nov, named after Singapore. This newly-described pathogen is part of the Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) complex. S. aureus is a common bacterial cause of infections. Infections range from skin and wound infections, surgical infections, to blood stream infections which may be fatal.
Singapore scientists including Dr Raghav Sundar, Consultant, Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), have created an intricate atlas of gastric cancer cells to offer more insight into how they can spread within the body.
A team of NUHS clinicians-scientists led by Prof Paul Chew, Department of Ophthalmology at NUS Medicine and Senior Consultant at NUH, has developed a glaucoma implant that helps to reduce patients’ eye pressure for a longer period of time, enabling less reliance on eye drops.
The National University Health System (NUHS) has embarked on a research and development programme within the academic healthcare cluster to explore the use of MR technology in clinical care. As part of the first phase of the research programme, a team of neurosurgeons at NUH has initiated a study to assess the feasibility of using holographic technology to spatially locate brain tumours when operating on patients.
Clinician-scientists from NUHS awarded $4.9 million grant to further develop the mitral valve bioprosthesis, named SingValve, which mimics the exact appearance, form and physical properties of a human mitral valve.
Adults with severe obesity who undergo metabolic-bariatric surgery (MBS) to lose weight, may have substantially lower mortality rates and longer life expectancy compared to those who tried to lose weight through conventional obesity management. The study findings by a team of clinicians and researchers from the National University Hospital (NUH), NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) and NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) are published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet in May.
Two widely-used therapies – oral hydroxychloroquine and povidone-iodine throat spray – have been found to significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a study by a team of NUHS clinician-scientists.
A widely available cancer drug could potentially be used to treat COVID-19, found researchers from the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore - NCIS and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the United States. The team found in pre-clinical trials that the drug, Topotecan, reduces the severity and death rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting the expression of inflammatory genes in lung models. This could have potential implications for COVID-19 treatment in humans, said NCIS.
A novel drug delivery technique that could extend the lifespans of advanced cancer patients has been successfully introduced in Singapore, at the National University Hospital - NUH and National University Cancer Institute, Singapore - NCIS — and for the first time in Asia. Known as pressurised intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC), the procedure targets cancers within the peritoneal cavity in the abdomen, including colon, gastric, and ovarian cancer.
After 8 years of discovery research, product development and clinical validation involving 5,248 subjects from Singapore and South Korea, NUHS has developed a non-invasive blood-based test targeting gastric cancer, more accurate than any of the existing conventional blood-based biomarker tests for detecting the cancer. This is a major event in the advancement of gastric cancer care, with the feasibility of rolling out the test in primary care in the near future.