Doubling your knowledge

PCC’s one-day seminar aims to dispel cancer myths and educate the public on the disease

Many people associate chemotherapy with late-stage cancer, but as participants of a recent seminar found out, this is a misconception.

At the “Double your knowledge about cancers” seminar held on 12 June, Dr Ang Peng Tiam, Medical Director of Parkway Cancer Centre (PCC), debunked the often-held perception that being prescribed chemotherapy meant that a patient was in the last stages of cancer.

“There are five different uses of chemotherapy,” he said, adding that these were: upfront, concurrent, adjuvant, curative and palliative chemotherapy.

“A chemotherapy that is curative means there is no need for operation, no need for radiation. Just chemotherapy alone and the cancer can be cured,” he explained.

More than 200 people turned up at Pan Pacific Hotel on 12 June for the talks, which were made in English and Mandarin.

The seminar was one of the many that PCC organises regularly, as part of a larger aim to educate the public on the disease.

Medical experts from PCC, Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Eu Yan Sang Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Specialist Centre spoke on various cancer-related topics.

The speakers included Dr Khoo Kei Siong, Dr Hong Ga Sze, Dr See Hui Ti, Dr Chew Soo Ping and TCM physician Tang Yue.

They covered topics such as debunking cancer myths, preventing cancer, preventing and treating digestive system cancer and TCM treatment of tumours.

In his opening talk, titled “Stories of Hope”, Dr Ang gave examples of how people had beaten cancer.

He spoke about how far modern advancements in medical technology had come, giving an example of how PET scans can now accurately pinpoint the extent of the spread of cancer cells in a patient.

He also showed some pictures of cancer survivors, recounting their inspiring stories.

One was the case of a boy who had testicular cancer. He had to be carried by his father into the clinic when he first saw Dr Ang in 2002. The cancer cells had spread, causing his abdomen to burst.

But the pictures that Dr Ang showed of the boy after he had received treatment looked as if the boy had never had cancer in the first place.

Such stories made Mr Ong Woon Hock, 35, a consultant, glad that he had attended the talk.

“Dr Ang managed to make a solemn subject humourous and I learnt a lot about cancer through his talk,” he said.

Miss Florence Tan, 61, a retired insurance agent, was also keen to hear Dr Ang speak, as some of her relatives had also suffered from cancer.