Singapore advances in Health research

SINGAPORE : Singapore doctors have developed a new cancer vaccine that’s said to be more than twice as effective as those that are currently available. The new vaccine has been used to treat colon cancer, which is one of the most common cancers today. And doctors said the vaccine is likely to work on other cancers on the head, neck, lung and skin as well. Doctors said the new vaccine has fewer side effects. This is because it works by customising the patient’s own special immune cells (Dendritic Cells) into a cocktail of antigens that are more powerful and efficient in killing cancer cells.

“This is a unique study because we take the blood cells from the patient and in a series of processes; we grow the cells in the lab and give it back to the patient in 7 days’ time. These cells will activate the body’s immune system to fight the cancer,” said Dr Toh Han Chong, Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Cell Therapy and Cancer Vaccine, Division of Medical Sciences. He is a senior consultant in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Centre Singapore.

This is one of the evident cases in which the virtue of adaptation to the environment is portrayed. Adaptation is one of the keys to winning the battle of the superpowers in this age of large-scale economies, when one may collapse any day if a war were to start. For Singapore, the study is significant as it shows that Singapore has the capability to develop and commercialise a drug. Biotech is also another field in which we can spur our local talents into developing further in.

In Singapore, 1,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer every year and 600 of them are treated at the National Cancer Centre. It is evident that with greater affluence, Singaporeans are less concerned about the quality of the food they eat, as long as there is enough advertisement and claims put up as to their health qualities, but more concerned of the amount they eat. It is common knowledge that most cancers arise from excessive consumption of carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) or substances which are harmful to the body in large quantities, such as cholesterol. Hence, greater consumption of food increases the chances of cancer, and most probably, colon cancer.

The increasing rate of diagnosis of cancer, heart attacks, and other such fatal ailments in Singapore is indeed alarming. The way Singaporeans picks up unhealthy eating habits or lifestyles are issues I feel that needs to be addressed in detail. I’d say that the way we dine is unhealthy,increasing number of fast food restraunts is an example. Lack of exercise is yet another reason for people to fall sick more easily. I believe that more can be done to educate the public on the risks and also causes of heart attacks and cancer etc. By doing so, Singaporeans will truly understand the seriousness of the situation.

Informations from ChannelNewsAsia