S'pore researchers receive $25m grant to tackle lung cancer in Asian patients

Researchers here have received a $25 million grant to work on tackling lung cancer in Asian patients across all stages — from risk prediction and early detection of those who are at risk, to personalized treatments of patients at more advanced stages of the illness.

- Joyce Teo

They want to gain a deeper understanding of why the disease — the deadliest cancer globally and one that kills three people each day in Singapore — behaves differently in Asian patients.

Unlike in Western countries, where lung cancer is mainly linked to smoking, nearly half of Singapore's lung cancer patients have never smoked. Many have non-small cell lung cancer, a type of the cancer that is often driven by mutations in a gene known as the EGFR.

While the advent of targeted therapies in the past two decades has improved survival rates, most patients develop drug resistance within nine to 15 months, causing relapses. Even early-stage patients face relapse risks after surgery.

The $25 million grant comes from the Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council.

It will fund a project called Clarion, which stands for Conquering Lung Cancer across All Stages with Research and Innovation.

Clarion will build on more than a decade of research undertaken by a multidisciplinary team led by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). The team also includes researchers from A*Star and the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore.

At a media briefing at NCCS on July 15, Professor Daniel Tan, a senior consultant in NCCS' Division of Medical Oncology, said lung cancer is a major challenge because some 60 per cent of cases are picked up in the late stages of the disease.