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Sino-Singapore cancer center set up in Shanghai

By Chen Qide (China Daily Shanghai Bureau)
Updated: 2010-05-06 09:55
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Singapore-based Parkway Cancer Center, Asia's largest cancer treatment center, has joined hands with Shanghai St. Michael Hospital to set up a center to treat breast cancer.

The center led by Medical Director Ang Peng Tiam with a group of specialists from Singapore is equipped with sophisticated facilities from Parkway.

Shanghai is a city with a high incidence rate of breast cancer at 50 out of 100,000 women suffering from breast cancer. But the rate was only 17 victims per 100,000 in 1972, said Shao Zhimin, professor from the Medical College of Fudan University.

Statistics show that the rate rose to 34 per 100,000 in 1992 and now Shanghai witnesses more than 4,000 breast cancer cases every year, Shao said.

Local medical insiders said the collaboration between Parkway and St.Michael Hospital is the best practice for foreign healthcare organizations wishing to expand into China.

"Our objective is to establish a private cancer center in Shanghai which matches if not surpass the best standards of practice in top cancer centers of the world," said Ang, vice chairman of Singapore Cancer Society.

"This is not something that can be achieved overnight, but with our hard work, it will happen," he said.

Ang, also a senior consultant to Parkway Cancer Center, maintains a keen interest in research of cancer and has published and presented more than 100 papers and abstracts.

The center has enabled it to gain an unrivalled reputation worldwide by providing a comprehensive and integrated premier cancer service, becoming an authority in its area of medical expertise, said Elsie Yap from Shanghai St. Michael Hospital.

"Our group in Shanghai strives to offer patient-centric cancer care, with the focus placed not only on disease, but on their physical, emotional and spiritual needs," said Ang.