Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1999

colon, and breast — including drugs to be registered with the FDA — in collaboration with oncology units, hospitals, and several major pharmaceutical companies in Hong Kong and internationally. There are currently over 20 ongoing trials which cover the use of immunotherapy to treat NPC conducted i n collaboration w i t h the University o f Birmingham and Johns Hopkins University. With the former, HKC I is investigating the world's first anti-cancer vaccine for NPC, and with the latter ， chemicals that would make tumours more 'visible ' to the immune system. The Clinical Trials Unit is also conducting a major trial of combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment jointly with Queen Elizabeth Hospital to treat advanced NPC tumours. The intention is to further develop the uni t with CUHK spearheading a Southeast Asian Cooperative Trials Group. Accomplishments in Research on Hepatocellular and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma HKCI ' s research is mainly focussed on two types of cancer particularly prevalent in Hong Kong and South China ， namely hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), or cancer o f the nasopharynx. HCC research is multi-pronged. In response to the problem of metastasis of HCC, a radioisotope Lipiodol I 131 has been administered into the liver after operation to prevent recurrence after surgical removal of the tumour. Findings of this clinical trial are most promising and have recently been published in the Lancet. Another project has detected consistent abnormality in chromosome 1, the first of our 23 pairs of chromosomes, in over 70 per cent of patients wit h HCC. For the first time in Southeast Asia, a Spectral Karyotyping machine which assigns a separate colour to each pair of chromosomes has been used to allow easy detection of 'crossings-over' or other abnormalities. Important advances have also been made i n the further development of Selective Internal Radiotherapy (SIR). A therapeutic isotope called Yttrium-90 is injected into the liver to shrink an advanced tumour, making it operable surgically in some cases. New methods for the detection of liver-cancer-specific alphafetoprotein have been found which opens the way to early diagnosis, much earlier than i f conventional imaging techniques were used. And for the first time in the world, active treatment for inoperable tumours has been developed. PIAF, a combination of drugs, can now be used to shrink some tumours and make them operable. Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching to be Reinforced Currently all medical students have to take a one-month oncology course in their final year, but the faculty has plans to expose the students to cancer earlier on in their education. A 30-hour Clinical Oncology Research Enhancement (CORE) Programme has been designed to teach all staff the practical skills of clinical trial design, medical statistics, grant application and paper writing. Courses in cancer nursing are also organized every Friday evening. These are open to all nurses in the territory interested in learning cancer including the psychosocial problems of cancer patients and palliative care. 12 Chinese University Bulletin Spring ‧ Summer 1999