Singapore: National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI) and IMS Health Asia have agreed to collaborate to develop its first Liver Cancer or Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Registry in Asia through the Asian HCC Physician Network.

The data from this Registry can help policy-makers and health care professionals formulate strategies to manage liver cancer patients.

This collaboration is led by Prof Pierce Chow, Senior Consultant Surgeon at NCCS and Chairman of the Physician Network.

"HCC is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and the burden of this devastating cancer is expected to increase further in coming years. The collection and analysis of epidemiologic HCC data will play a critical role in guiding future disease prevention strategies and optimizing patient management," said Associate Prof Teoh Yee Leong, Public Health Physician and CEO, Singapore Clinical Research Institute.

Previous epidemiologic studies have highlighted striking global variations in the incidence of HCC, which is particularly high in much of East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and lower, but on the rise in North America and most of Europe. Although previous studies have contributed considerably to the knowledge of HCC epidemiology, there are limitations associated with the currently available data. This arose from studies performed at different times in the past, using varying methodologies, and with diverse patient populations.

"This information gap prevents estimation of current and future disease burden and impedes efforts to lobby health policymakers to improve public health measures, as given the size of Asia Pacific populations, prevention rather than treatment of non-communicable diseases remains key," added A/Prof Teoh.

NCCS Director Prof Soo Khee Chee said, "This public-private registry is timely and leverages on the Asia-Pacific HCC network that we have developed over the last two decades. The aim of the registry is aligned with the mission of NCCS and we look forward to better prevention and treatment strategies for HCC in Asia Pacific."

NCCS Prof Pierce Chow said a fresh approach to the study of the epidemiology HCC is required if HCC disease prevention and treatment strategies are to be adequately directed and supported in coming years.

Real world data on the presentation, clinical trajectory and management of HCC in the Asia-Pacific must be prospectively collected on the ground if we were to improve public health measures and develop effective public health strategies," explained Prof Chow.

According to the Vice President IMS Health Asia, Mr Amit Backliwal, "Cancer in Asia is fast becoming a huge burden of disease and cost of care is now spiralling. With access to longitudinal patient consented data, IMS will be able to help healthcare stakeholders in more informed decision making and overall drive better health outcomes through proprietary analytics and technology solutions."

This public-private collaboration will also provide invaluable information to the pharmaceutical industry, governmental and insurance payers and physicians, delivering a complete longitudinal picture of the disease using a combination of retrospective and prospective clinical, associated health costs and patient reported outcomes data. The Registry will help to answer important questions such as different treatment patterns / strategies; health care resource use and costs of treatments; as well as first- hand insights to patients' perspectives on their treatments.

Using this real world data, government planning agencies and pharmaceutical companies can benefit through bespoke analytics to establish their clinical development and product strategies. Payers will have a good understanding of the disease burden and budget impact to better craft the public health policies. Physicians will be able to use this data to better optimize care pathways enhancing treatment outcomes for HCC patients.