SINGAPORE - Grab driver Yong Hock Lim thought that the niggling tummy pain that he was experiencing in January 2024 was because of his irregular mealtimes.

But as the pain persisted and his appetite worsened, further tests in May 2024 revealed that he had stage 3 liver cancer.

“I was shocked about my diagnosis because I don’t usually drink,” said Mr Yong.

The 73-year-old, who also does not have a history of hepatitis B or C, is not the typical profile of a patient who is offered regular screening for liver cancer.

But Mr Yong had an increased risk of developing liver cancer, as he had fatty liver disease. For now, there are no cancer screening programmes for patients like him.

That is about to change, with $6 million awarded to National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)’s senior consultant surgeon Professor Pierce Chow, who over the next five years will research liver cancer screening strategy for patients with non-traditional risk factors.

The funding comes with the prestigious Singapore Translational Research (STaR) Investigator Award, which was awarded Prof Chow, 63, by the Ministry of Health’s National Medical Research Council (NMRC).

Another surgeon-scientist, Professor Gopal Iyer, 52, head of the department of head and neck surgery at NCCS, also received the same award and funding to conduct clinical studies on treating head and neck cancers. Prof Iyer will be working to develop a more cost-effective method of manufacturing an innovative cell therapy to treat such cancers.

A media briefing was held at NCCS to announce the awards and new research efforts on February 6.

Liver, and head and neck cancers are more prevalent in Asia, highlighting the need for improved understanding and treatment options here.

Elaborating on his study, Prof Chow said that research has shown that 92 per cent of those with liver cancer eventually die of the disease. The poor outcome is largely due to late diagnosis.

Currently, screening for liver cancer is available only for patients who have chronic hepatitis B and C.

But while patients with chronic viral hepatitis made up about 90 per cent of people diagnosed with liver cancer in Singapore 20 years ago, the profile of patients is changing, he said.

Today, about 60 per cent of liver cancer patients at NCCS have chronic viral hepatitis, and about 40 per cent of them have fatty liver disease.

However, almost 40 per cent of the Singapore population has various degrees of fatty liver disease, Prof ...