Singapore: Global experts gathered at the Mundipharma Cancer Care Summit to plan how to improve the quality-of-life for cancer patients in Asia. A key focus was the alarming number of people across Asia suffering from cancer pain.

The ACHEON study- which summarized data collected from 1,190 patients across 10 Asian countries, and detailed the impact of cancer pain on patients' quality of life, employment and levels of self-reliance - provided background for the sessions on cancer pain at the summit.

Dr Elon Eisenberg, director pain research unit, Institute of Pain Medicine, Rambam Health Care Campus, and Dr Bart Morlion, professor, University of Leuven and president-elect of the European Pain Federation, led the sessions on cancer pain that sought solutions to these issues.

Dr Morlion said the summit can be a catalyst for a re-assessment of pain management across the region. "Given so few patients suffering from cancer pain are being treated by specialists, there is enormous potential to improve pain management in Southeast Asia. With an aging population, cancer related pain management is growing and serious problem."

New cancer diagnoses are expected to grow to nearly 11 million per year in Asia by 2030. The establishment of this first Southeast Asia-focused cancer care summit - which covered Cancer Pain, Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) and Oral Mucositis - is a response to this. It follows a series of highly-successful events on same theme facilitated by Mundipharma in emerging markets, including the Middle East and China.

Oncologists and pain specialists who attended the summit learned about medical advances and best practice in cancer care at the summit chaired by Associate Prof. Supranee Niruthisard, President of Thai Association for the Study of Pain; Assistant Prof. Thitiya Dejthevaporn, vice president of Thai Society of Clinical Oncology.

Sessions included plenary lectures by leading medical experts from around the world, including: Dr Stephen Della-Fiorentina, Director, Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, Australia; Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam, director, ENT Practice, Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre, and Visiting Consultant, John Hopkins Singapore.

"Significant strides were made were made at the summit. Rendering these into the necessary, tangible improvements in cancer care for patients across the region will require ongoing collaborative efforts from institutional organisations, industry and regulatory authorities," said Mundipharma General Manager for Southeast Asia and Korea, Mr John Lee.

"For its part, Mundipharma is committed to improving the quality of life for cancer patients by providing effective treatments, working to make optimal care more accessible to those in need and facilitating thought leadership initiatives for medical practitioners such as the Cancer Care Summit," he added.