KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) opened one of Southeast Asia’s largest paediatric cancer centres to meet increasing demands and to provide holistic care to children with cancer. The centre was officially opened by Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health, on 21 September.

Sponsored by the Children’s Cancer Foundation, the new centre comes with four Bone Marrow Transplant rooms, catering for up to 36 patients per year. The expanded Day Therapy Centre (CDT), which allows patients to receive chemotherapy and blood products in an outpatient setting, can also handle 40 percent more procedures than before. A larger CDT also means that fewer patients need to be warded, thus reducing cost for them.

The centre is designed to cater to the children and their parents’ comfort, with plasma TVs, a playroom, computers, and a well-equipped pantry. Each Bone Marrow Transplant room can also be personalised to resemble the child’s room at home.

To ensure that patients receive all-rounded specialised care, patients are supported by a multidisciplinary team of paediatric oncologists, surgeons and nurses. The child’s psychosocial needs are also seen to. Since 1997, the Children’s Cancer Foundation has provided much needed psychosocial support through counselling, therapeutic play, a Parent’s Support programme and a Bereavement programme, all provided at no cost to the patients. In addition, the hospital’s medical social workers provide financial counselling and source for funds to help families cope with the costs of treatment.

Since 1998, KKH has conducted 65 Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants with a 70% success rate, one that is comparable to international standards. In 2002, KKH conducted the first cord blood transplant with success that underpins today’s demand for the procedure. In the near future, KKH expects to see an increase in the number of patients with demand coming from an increase in cord blood transplants. Plans to develop an adolescent cancer programme are in the works as studies have shown that adolescents fare better in a paediatric environment than in an adult ward.

Achievements:
• 80% cure rate for common cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, germ cell tumour and
  kidney tumour
• 70% success rate of HSCT, comparable to world best centres
• Recognised as a participating centre for EUROCORD in April 2006
• Multidisciplinary concept in childhood cancer management i.e.patients are treated by a team
  comprising paediatric oncologists, paediatric neurosurgeon, paediatric oncology surgeon,
  together with trained paediatric nurses and counsellors. The Children’s Cancer Foundation
  has been a partner since the centre started offering psycho-social support.
• Workload in day therapy centre has doubled within the last 5 years from over 2,000
  treatments per year to 4,800.

Range of Services:
• General paediatric haematology and oncology
• Haemophilia clinic
• Thalassaemia clinic
• Combined therapy clinic (solid tumour)
• Neuro-oncology clinic
• Cancer cytogenetics
• Late effects clinic
• Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allogenic and autologous)
• National children’s cancer registry
• Blood Stem Cell Transplantation