The Division of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology delivers care in the Viva-University Children's Cancer Centre (VUC3) for young cancer patients with all malignant conditions ranging from leukaemias to solid tumours.
The Division is also exceedingly active in translational clinical research. The Division has been leading the highly successful multi-centre Malaysia-Singapore ALL studies since 2003 with a cure rate exceeding 85 percent, placing the Division among the best in the world. Together with Prof Dario Campana, NMRC STAR investigator and A/Prof Allen Yeoh from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the current Ma-Spore ALL 2010 is achieving better outcome with less chemotherapy for majority of patients. This is done by very sensitive and highly specific minimal residual disease (MRD) markers that can accurately risk stratify patients and tailor treatment to maximise cure and minimise side-effects.
In addition, the team has been conducting various cell-based immunotherapy in both leukaemias and solid tumours. Because of small families with few children, the lack of matched sibling donors have limited the number of haemopoietic stem cell transplants done in Singapore. Dr Tan Poh Lin, Head of Paediatric Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant has done > 50 haematopoietic stem cell transplants from parents (haploidentical HSCT). Dr Miriam Kimpo and Dr Chetan Dhamne are currently using anti-GD2 monoclonal therapy with natural killer cells against high risk neuroblastoma.
The Viva-University Children's Cancer Centre is a one-stop cancer centre treating children with cancers. Outpatient consultations are carried out every day from Mondays to Fridays in five outpatient consultation clinic. There are 15 beds in the day therapy centre with five single isolation rooms and a 10 bed-open concept Day therapy centre. This is conveniently located in the 9th Floor of the National University Hospital (NUH) Medical Centre which is situated right above the Kent Ridge MRT station.
The 17-bed inpatient ward is housed in Ward 8B, Level 8 of the Kent Ridge Wing of the NUH. This comprise of a 5-HEPA filtered, positive single BMT rooms in a BMT suite with its own HEPA filtered corridor, 3 isolation single rooms and 2 dormitory open style rooms.
This facility is the seat of the Viva Foundation's Centre of Excellence for childhood cancers. Funded by the Singapore Totalisator Board and Viva Foundation, it is the centre for research, training and treatment of children with cancer for Viva Foundation. It provides training for doctors, nurses, technologists, administrators, care-givers and other personnel from both Singapore and the region, in the care, treatment and follow-up of children with cancer and childhood cancer survivors. It aims to be a centre for clinical research in paediatric oncology and paediatric stem cell transplantation. Its vision is to bring paediatric cancer treatment to the highest level in Asia.
