As a Colorectal Unit, in our quest to provide the best care for our patients, we are also involved in research, with the aim of pushing the frontiers in current colorectal health care. As part of the National University of Singapore, we are uniquely poised in the centre of academic and research excellence and associated with various university departments who are important in the different aspects of our research.

One of our passions is that of colorectal cancer, one of the commonest cancers in Singapore for both men and women. Over here at the NUH Colorectal Clinic, we are committed to getting the best results for our patients, eg, advances in minimally invasive surgery such that there is minimal disruption to the lifestyles of our patients; advances in colorectal cancer treatment.

An example of one of the projects our unit is involved is for colorectal cancer. We are curious to see why our population of colorectal cancer patients are younger than those in Australia. Is it because the cancer cell biology and behaviour of our Singaporean patients are different compared to those in Australia? Are there differences between Chinese, Malay or Indian patients? Only by studying and doing research on these questions, can we find the answers.

Here, we encourage our cancer patients to donate their excess tumour tissue to research. With that we can do molecular typing of the tumour tissue, such as MSI (Microsatellite Instability) or K-ras oncogene status, to name a few. Some uses of finding out the molecular typing include the following:

K-ras status—It is known that the K-ras status in the tumour tissue plays a part in the patient’s response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We hope that we can eventually find the best chemotherapy regime with regards to a patient’s K-ras status.

MSI (Microsatellite Instabilty)—By testing the tumour tissue for presence of MSI (Microsatellite Instability), we hope to identify patients and relatives who are more at risk for colorectal cancer, and hence, can give them prior warning and teach them measures to prevent it.

Our other research projects