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Radiologic placement of totally implantable venous access devices: Outcomes and complications from a large oncology cohort

Long-term intermittent venous access has proven to be indispensable for oncology patients who require frequent intravenous (IV) infusions and repeated phlebotomies apart from facing the discomfort of frequent venepuncture.1 Totally implantable venous access devices (TIVADs) or ports are preferred to external catheters, especially in these patients, due to their...

Interventional radiology placement of totally implantable venous access devices in oncology practice

In November 1929, Werner Forssmann, a German surgical resident, attempted the first documented central venous catheter with a 35 cm-long catheter via his left antecubital vein.1 Although revolutionary for his time, this innovation encountered significant opposition, and he was expelled from his training programme for this unauthorised experimentation. Despite...

Mental wellness and health-related quality of life of young adult survivors of childhood cancer in Singapore

Advancements in technology and cancer treatments have improved childhood cancer survival rates, with up to 85% surviving 5 years or more.1 The Malaysia-Singapore Leukaemia Study Group reported an improvement in overall 5-year survival for the past 20 years in Singapore, from 69% to 91% for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which...

Association between alcohol flushing syndrome and cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Alcohol flushing syndrome (AFS) is characterised by intense facial flushing, often accompanied by palpitations, headache and nausea shortly after the consumption of alcohol. This phenomenon occurs in up to 46% of East Asians and to a much lesser extent Caucasians, due to the accumulation of acetaldehyde, a metabolic byproduct...

Challenges in genetic screening for inherited endocrinopathy affecting the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands in Singapore

In the current landscape of medicine, it is well known that most diseases incorporate a genetic component to some degree. Genetic testing of human diseases originated in the 1950s, and screening for genetic disorders followed a decade after.1 It is worthwhile noting that the Human Genome Project (1990–2003), which...

Defining breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) prevalence and risk factors: A pragmatic approach to lymphedema surveillance

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a chronic progressive pathological condition of the lymphatic system that can lead to significant impact on the quality of life after breast cancer treatment.1 It is characterised by swelling and accumulation of protein-rich fluid in body tissues, leading to pain, tightness, skin changes such...

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL): Should we be doing more or less for the axilla?

Breast cancer mortality has declined steadily over the years with breast cancer screening, and improvement in diagnostic and therapeutic regimens. Despite cancer survivors living longer, breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a significant complication after major breast surgery that can impact quality of life adversely. The incidence of BCRL reported...

Clinical utility of PET/MRI in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a haematological malignancy characterised by abnormal accumulation of malignant plasma cells and is associated with anaemia, renal impairment, hypercalcemia and bone lesions. A sensitive method to detect bone lesions is crucial as it could determine the decision to start treatment. In this era, the International...

Preoperative shock index in major abdominal emergency surgery

Major abdominal emergency surgery (MAES) is a complex and high-risk procedure with a significantly greater risk of complications and mortality as compared to elective surgery.1-3 Mortality rates in MAES can range from 14% to 20%,2,4 with current literature quoting rates as high as 45%.5 To objectively assess the perioperative surgical...

Breast conservation treatment and frozen section analysis of margins

Dear Editor, Re. Surgical margins assessment reduces re-excision rates in breast-conserving surgery I read with interest the article by Woon et al. published in a recent issue of the Annals on the reduction of re-excision rates with the use of intraoperative frozen section (FS) analysis.1 This certainly has the potential...

Molecular testing in non-small cell lung cancer: A consensus recommendation

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with an estimated 2.21 million new cases and 1.80 million deaths in 2020.1 In Singapore, lung cancer is the third most frequent cancer in men and women, and accounts for the highest and third highest number of cancer deaths...

Streamlining multidisciplinary care in sarcoma management

Dear Editor, Sarcomas are rare and heterogenous tumours that constitute fewer than 1% of adult solid cancers.1 Owing to their aggressive behaviour, relative rarity and occurrence at multiple anatomical sites, sarcomas can be challenging to treat.2 Timely referral to specialist sarcoma centres is thus paramount and reduces the incidence...

Restaging of rectal cancer with hybrid positron emission tomography magnetic resonance imaging after preoperative chemoradiotherapy

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery is the current standard of care for locally advanced rectal cancers. Randomised trials have shown that a neoadjuvant approach results in improved tumour downstaging, improved R0 resections, improved local control and increased sphincter preservation rates.1 Reliable response assessment and restaging post-CRT add invaluable...

Poor survival rate of pregnancy-associated breast cancer in Asian countries

Dear Editor, Asia has a lower incidence of breast cancer than North America, Oceania, and Western Europe. However, breast cancer rates have been rising fast in recent decades.1 Breast cancer cases in Asian countries now constitute 40% of all cases diagnosed globally, and mortality due to breast cancer has similarly...

An approach to genetic testing in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in Singapore

Prostate cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Asian men, and with its rising incidence, is emerging as a health priority in Asia.1 Across Asian countries, age-standardised incidence rates (ASIRs) of prostate cancer range from 0.9 to 56.1 per 100,000 population, with the second highest ASIR reported in...

Challenges with mainstreaming genetic testing for metastatic prostate cancer treatment in Singapore

Compared with other solid tumours, patients with metastatic prostate cancer typically have better survival in the range of years.1 The long survival translates to a high prevalence, and thus, a large number of men living with prostate cancer. Singapore has one of the highest age-standardised incidence rates of prostate...

Clinical efficacy and long-term immunogenicity of an early triple dose regimen of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in cancer patients

The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has led to the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Initial studies have reported an increased vulnerability of patients with solid and haematological malignancies to SARS-CoV-2 infections.1,2 Global efforts to combat SARS-CoV-2 led to the unprecedented rapid development of multiple vaccines, with reported efficacies of...

Early COVID-19 booster is beneficial in cancer patients

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its corresponding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported as a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 20191 and led to an unprecedented pandemic in modern times. It quickly overwhelmed healthcare systems around the world, and rendered...

Multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic: An emerging model of care

Dear Editor, Lung cancer management is progressively complex and multidisciplinary input is often needed. The recent publication of CheckMate 816 heralds a paradigm shift in the treatment of resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC),1 with many other perioperative trials soon to follow.2 Oligometastasis and oligoprogression in stage IV NSCLC...

Characteristics of anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1 gamma autoantibody-positive dermatomyositis patients in Singapore

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are a heterogeneous group of acquired, systemic autoimmune conditions characterised by muscular and extramuscular manifestations. As a subset within the family of IIM, dermatomyositis is distinguished by cutaneous features and has twice the risk of associated malignancy than polymyositis.1-3 Various meta-analyses have shown that between 10%...

A recurring nasal mass

A 56-year-old Chinese man presented to the Ear, Nose and Throat clinic with months of unilateral right-sided nasal obstruction. He reported occasional mucopurulent discharge and denied any hyposmia, episodes of epistaxis, or loss of weight and appetite. Nasoendoscopy revealed a right-sided nasal mass between the septum and middle turbinate....

Early rehabilitation to improve functional outcomes in childhood cancer in Singapore

Dear Editor, We conducted a prospective, single-centre cohort study to review the impact of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme in children with cancer in Singapore. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist was used to allow sufficient details for replication of the study (see Appendix in online Supplementary...

Low-dose computerised tomography screening for lung cancer in Singapore: Practical challenges of identifying participants

INTRODUCTION In March 2022, the European Commission on cancer screening suggested the inclusion of low-dose computerised tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer, targeted at current and former smokers.1 The aim of LDCT screening is to increase early detection, decrease diagnoses at metastatic stage of the disease and improve overall 5-year...

Cause of vaginal spotting in an older woman

A 77-year-old Chinese woman with a past medical history of Sjogren’s syndrome, nodular goitre and right-sided neck lymphadenopathy, presented to the gynaecological service for per-vaginal spotting. On clinical examination, she was noted to have a cervical polyp. A polypectomy was performed and the specimen was sent for histological examination. The...

Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma associated with sudden stridor arising from thyroid mucormycosis and concomitant bacterial infection

Dear Editor, Mucormycosis is a life-threatening fungal infection that mainly affects immunocompromised patients. It typically has low prevalence, but fatality rate is as high as 50%. We present a patient with intravascular lymphoma with secondary bacterial infection and invasive mucormycosis involving the thyroid gland, who experienced good outcomes following surgical...

Computed Tomographic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Paranasal Sinus Involvement in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an aggressive infiltrative neoplasm. Spread into the paranasal sinuses is often seen but the frequency is documented in only a few series. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Topoisomerase-I Inhibitors in Gynaecologic Tumours

Topoisomerases are essential nuclear enzymes with a multiplicity of cellular functions involving DNA replication, RNA transcription, mitosis, and chromosome condensation. Two classes have been identified: the class I topoisomerases, named “I” because they induce single-strand breaks and reunions of the DNA double helix, and the class II topoisomerases, named...

Overview of Imaging in Rheumatologic Diseases

Since the discovery of X-rays over a century ago, radiology has played a pivotal role in rheumatology and diseases of the joints. The innovations and advances in technology in imaging and interventional radiology today enable more precise and earlier detection, assessment and treatment. This article is available only as a...

Otogenic Lateral Sinus Thrombosis—A Case Report

A 16-year-old boy, with a background history of beta-thalassaemia intermedia, splenectomy and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, was referred to our otolaryngological clinic for right otalgia following an episode of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). He had hearing loss with tinnitus in the right ear, nasal obstruction with greenish nasal discharge and...

Differentiation of Malignant Vertebral Collapse from Osteoporotic and Other Benign Causes Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

An elderly patient presenting with backache and vertebral collapse on plain X-ray is a common clinical scenario and a diagnostic challenge. It is difficult to differentiate between benign and malignant causes for the vertebral collapse. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Current Status in Imaging of Colorectal Liver Metastases

Colorectal cancer is a common primary that metastasizes to the liver. About 20% of patients with colorectal cancer will have detectable metastases at the time of clinical presentation, with an additional 30% developing clinical evidence of hepatic disease within 24 months. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Breast Ultrasound in Women With Familial Risk of Breast Cancer

Mammography is the modality of choice to screen for breast cancer in asymptomatic women. However, it is known that about 10% to 12% of breast cancers are mammographically occult. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Corticospinal Tract Degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Fibre Tractography Study

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterised by spinal and cortical motor neuron degeneration. Although electro myography, muscle biopsy and motor unit number estimation are useful for the evaluation of lower motor neuron (LMN) damage, there is at present no objective and quantitative technique to detect...

Superior Sagittal Sinus Thrombosis: Subtle Signs on Neuroimaging

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an infrequent but potentially deadly disease. The mortality rate of CVT is 10% to 20%, and surviving patients may suffer significant morbidity such as seizures or neurological deficits. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

The Role of Electrophysiology in the Diagnosis and Management of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

Cervical spondylosis is an extremely common condition managed by both physicians and surgeons in daily clinical practice. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), resulting from longstanding degenerative impingement of the spinal cord and nerve roots by osteo-cartilagineous elements, is managed by conservative or surgical methods.1 While surgery is often performed in...

Multivoxel MR Spectroscopic Imaging – Distinguishing Intracranial Tumours from Non-neoplastic Disease

The presence of focal intracranial disease may be due to a variety of diseases, including primary neoplasm, metastatic tumour, abscess, subacute infarction and developmental anomalies. It is important to distinguish tumours from non-neoplastic mimics as the appropriate treatment is very different in each pathology. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...

Characteristics of unplanned hospitalisations among cancer patients in Singapore

Cancer is a pervasive global problem with growing healthcare utilisation and costs.1-3 This situation is similar in Singapore where cancer incidence is on the rise and accounts for nearly 30% of total population mortality.4,5 Singapore data suggests that cancer patients accounted for 13% of total healthcare costs in 2016,...

Imaging of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is considered an Asian disease, particularly in the southern Chinese population; the incidence in Guangzhou is quoted to be up to 800 cases per million people.1 It is rare in the rest of the world, although NPC has spread to other areas of the world due...

Laparoscopic Systemic Retroperitoneal Lymphadenectomy for Women with Low-Risk Early Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial cancer is the third most frequent gynaecologic cancer in Korea, following cervical cancer and ovarian cancer. With the increasingly Westernised lifestyles of Korean women – including exposure to oestrogen hormones, the number of pregnancies, the age of menarche and the age of menopause – the number of reported...

Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: A Perspective from the Clinic to Genetic Brain Mechanisms

In Singapore, the prevalence of mental health problems is suggested to be about 16.6%.1 Schizophrenia, the focus in this review, affects about 1% of the population worldwide. However, it appears that only some 10% of those with mental health problems here seek professional help.2 Cultural attitudes and stigma remain...

Duration of Illness, Regional Brain Morphology and Neurocognitive Correlates in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a potentially devastating illness with a tremendous impact on the lives of both patients as well as the caregivers. Conceptualised as a lifelong disorder,1 the specific effects of schizophrenia on the brain and cognition are still being actively studied using modern imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance...

Laparoscopic Pelvic Surgery for Endometrial Cancer

The traditional approach for the treatment of endometrial cancer by laparotomy is increasingly being replaced by laparoscopic surgery.1 Like laparotomy, operative laparoscopy can accomplish the full surgical procedures, which include doing a complete intraperitoneal survey, obtaining peritoneal washings, removing of the adnexae and performing pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy and...

Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Singapore Cancer Patients

Worldwide, the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by cancer patients is highly prevalent. For cancer specialists, knowledge on CAM use in their patients is particularly important as there can be potentially hazardous drug interactions between some forms of oral CAM and chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This article is available...

The Contribution of Rapid Intraoperative Cytology in the Evaluation of Endometrial Cancer Spread

Tumour staging is of great importance to the treatment of patients with oncological diseases. The therapeutic approach of the patient largely depends on the extension of the disease. Misclassification of stage may thus result in suboptimal treatment strategies. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) adopted its first...

Assessment of the American Joint Committee on Cancer 7th Edition Staging for Localised Prostate Cancer in Asia Treated with External Beam Radiotherapy

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, with a worldwide incidence of approximately 900,000 in 2008. Internationally, there is marked variation in incidence, ranging from 104.2 per 100,000 in some Western populations, to 4.1 per 100,000 in South and Central Asia. However, there has...

Routine intraoperative frozen section adds little value to the management of thyroid nodules with Bethesda III cytology

Dear Editor, We would like to highlight the need to reduce intraoperative frozen section (FS) during diagnostic hemithyroidectomy performed on thyroid nodules with Bethesda III cytology. Thyroid nodules are increasingly diagnosed and subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology. Bethesda III is a cytological category that consists of atypia or follicular...

How do English-speaking Cancer Patients Conceptualise Personhood?

Understanding the way personhood or “what makes you, you” is conceptualised is pivotal to the practice of medicine. Conceptions of personhood determine the moral and legal status of an individual, is central to the protection of rights and privileges and is pivotal to the maintenance of the distinctiveness of...

Prevalence of thyroid malignancy and hormonal dysfunction following radiation exposure in childhood

The incidence of thyroid cancer has been steadily increasing worldwide. Childhood radiation exposure is a known risk factor for thyroid malignancy. However, data on the incidence of thyroid cancer in this high-risk cohort in Singapore are limited. Thus, we assessed data from patients treated in our institution with a...

Pelvic mass mimicking advanced tubo-ovarian malignancy with hepatic metastasis

A 49-year-old woman presented with mild pain in her lower abdomen and changes in bowel habits for 2 months. She also experienced 20kg of weight loss over 7 months. She previously had an intrauterine device (IUD) for 5 years, removed 2 years prior to presentation. Vital signs were stable,...

Incidence and trends of ophthalmic cancer in Singapore: Data from Singapore Cancer Registry

Ophthalmic cancers are commonly encountered in clinical practice and are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Globally, the incidence of ophthalmic cancers have been increasing in the past 2 to 3 decades.3-6 Data on recent incidence of primary ophthalmic cancers, comprising intraocular and extraocular cancers, have not been...

An unusual submandibular tumour

A woman in her 60s presented with a non-tender, non-enlarging swelling in the left submandibular triangle of the neck for 3 months. She had no significant past medical or surgical history. Examination showed a 2cm firm round lump in the left submandibular triangle, not attached to the skin, mandible...

Penile preserving surgery in penile cancer management

Penile cancer is a condition that accounts for approximately 0.4% of cancers among Singapore males. Overall, this is an uncommon cancer with higher rates in developing countries (2.8–6.8 per 100,000) compared to Western countries (as low as 0.3 per 100,000). However, in the UK, which is a developed country,...

Primary cutaneous umbilical melanoma

A 59-year-old woman with a pre-existing asymptomatic pigmented nevus on the umbilicus for the past 20 years was seen in the outpatient dermatology clinic for a 2-week history of a raised, bleeding pigmented papule overlying the nevus. Physical examination showed a 7 x 7mm ulcerated papule overlying a 2.2...

Cervical screening in foreign domestic workers in Singapore

Cervical cancer is the most common gynaecological cancer in many countries in Southeast Asia, with a cumulative age-standardised incidence rate (ASRI) of 17.2 per 100,000 and a corresponding mortality rate (ASMR) of 10 per 100,000. In Singapore, cervical cancer is the 10th most common cancer in women with an...