ST Online Forum carried a letter by Sir Kerry Jewel who praised the service level of Singaporeans in general and especially the services rendered by SGH when he suffered at mild stoke in his hotel room. Sir Jewel, shared the details of his experience at SGH noting that he was only in the emergency department for a matter of minutes before his head was scanned.

1. Cyst-duodenostomy or joining of the choledochal cysts which was left in place, to the duodenum has since been stopped since patients treated this way often develop complications such as cholangitis (inflammation of bile duct) and subsequent cirrhosis (scarring of liver).
2. Roux-en Y cyst-jejunostomy is the drainage of the cyst into a specially constructed intestinal arrangement for drainage of bile. This has worked for a few patients but there is the long-term risk of canceer as the cyst itself remains in place. This operation is no longer performed.
3. The procedure today is to completely remove the dilated duct system outside the liver and drain the bile duct as it leaves the liver into a loop of intestine designed to prevent backflow.

National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) oncologist, Dr Tan Min-Han, was recently conferred the prestigious Merit Award by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Georgia, USA. Besides being the only Singaporean to receive the award this year, Dr Tan has the honour of being a winner of the Merit Award for two consecutive years in 2005 and 2006. The current award was in recognition of his work affecting targeted therapies for kidney cancer treatment. Dr Tan had achieved a breakthrough in his research on the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene, a tumour suppressor gene. Up to this point, it is generally believed that the loss of function of this gene promotes blood vessel and kidney cancer growth.

SINGAPORE, working with major cancer centres in the region, has come up with a molecular map of stomach cancer, in what is called a vital starting point towards finding better treatments for the dreaded disease common among Asians.

35-year-old Mr Shirhan S/O Omar Khtab had not been able to sleep well for many years. Tipping the scale at 150kg, Shirhan would get breathless if he slept on his back and would wake up frequently. He had to lie with his face down, propping his forehead with his hand. This left a dark patch on his forehead which bothered him. He also suffered from painful knees and ankles which ached when he walked for more than 10 minutes.