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Taiwan, other centres study Asian cancers

TAIPEI: Taiwan has teamed up with leading Asia-Pacific cancer research centres to find the most effective treatment for Asians as western practices may not be the best for orientals, the head of the country's largest medical group said.

The cooperation may lead to setting up a permanent Asia-Pacific centre that could include China, said Dr. Gi-ming Lai, of the semi-official Taiwan Co-Operative Oncology Group.

"We are developing an EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) anti-body, which may be useful in helping Asians fight cancer," Lai said of the first project being undertaken by his group and the four Asian centres.

Lai's group signed an agreement with the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Oncology, Singapore's National University Hospital, Johns Hopkins Singapore and Sydney Cancer Centre in late 1999 for joint research into "Asian cancers."

Lai said little was known about how Asian groups might respond differently to Western drugs but he added "popular therapies for Caucasians may not be the best for ethnic Asians."

He said cooperation between the centres would help gain a better understanding of the problem and new drug trials would be run simultaneously among Caucasian and Asian populations.

Lai said Covance Inc, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies, helped bring the centres together for the collaboration.

Medical statistics show cancer is the top killer in the region. Of this, colo-rectum cancer ranks top among cancers in Australia, lung cancer ranks top in Hong Kong, while colo-rectum cancer is also the most common in Singapore and liver cancer the most prevalent in Taiwan.

Lai said Asian behaviour that could lead to the growth of cancer was another major topic in the alliance's joint research.

Betelnut chewing in Taiwan, for example, is the major cause of mouth cancer, Lai said.

In addition to earlier screening, testing and confirmation of the efficacy and safety of new cancer therapies for Asia, another important goal of the alliance was to attract earlier stage therapy trials for "Asian cancers" to the region, he added.

The alliance hopes to promote the development of Asia-Pacific trial sites, which meet International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines for good clinical practice -- the recognised quality standard worldwide, Lai said.-Reuters