WATCH IT! West Medical Group's Dr. Steven Tucker explains the advantages of their revolutionary Pet/CT Scanning device. Their Singapore clinic is one of the first in Southeast Asia to offer this new, hybrid screening technology, which is revolutionising medical imaging, especially in the areas of cancer,
brain disorders and heart disease.

WATCH IT! West Medical Group's Palliative Care specialist demonstrates the clinic's patient care monitors, a tablet computer system that collects information about symptoms, quality of life and related clinical data at every patient visit.

WITH the aim of increasing awareness of cancer and, consequently, its prevention and treatment, the premiere American cancer centre West Medical Group has tied up with the local Breast Cancer Foundation for a year-long series of free talks called “Life Matters.”

The talks will be held every last Wednesday of the month at Camden Medical Centre, where West Medical Group Singapore holds office, and is open to everyone, with a suggested donation of $20 for the Breast Cancer Foundation.

In January, the topic was “Cancer 101”. This 27 February, it will be “Cancer Prevention.”

According to West Medical Group, cancer is one of the most prevalent illnesses in the world and the most deadly illness in Singapore. Statistics from the Ministry of Health claims it was the cause of 28.5 percent of all deaths in 2006. In 2007, it took the lives of 4,762 Singaporeans.

Dr. Tucker says the talks wish to dispel myths about cancer and to remove the stigma surrounding it, moving it from a “dreaded diseases to a chronic disease.” It hopes to “totally eradicate cancer as a life-threatening disease from the nation,” says Breast Cancer Foundation treasurer Ms. Wu Soo Mee.

After the media conference that announced “Life Matters,” Dr. Tucker took us on an ocular tour of the West Medical clinic, which he says distinguishes itself from other facilities (both in Singapore and abroad) with its holistic approach to cancer. “We treat the whole person, from body, mind and soul,” he says. (In charge of this mind and soul treatment is palliative care specialist Dr. Khin Khin Win.)

The facilities were very modern and the atmosphere very professional, and one of the gadgets that drew oohs and aahs from the group was West Medical’s Pace System (see video), a computer tablet that asks patients seemingly random health-related questions, such as do you have a runny nose and how have you been sleeping.

The answers will help physicians quickly assess improvement or worsening in conditions. For example, the runny nose may not have anything to do with breast cancer per se, but it could be a side effect of the patient’s medication.

This thoughtfulness is what Wu Soo Mee, herself a breast cancer survivor, finds really impressive. At the facility she went to, she said, they didn’t bother to ask questions like how the patient’s day is so far.

The most impressive equipment, however, was the state-of-the-art imaging machine capable of both Pet and CT Scans machine. According to Dr. Tucker, could eventually eradicate the need to undergo an operation because it can distinguish between a lump and tumor (see video).

The facility also offers cancer screening packages for men and women that starts at $888.

Other topics lined up for “Life Matters” include colo-rectal cancer, cures for cancer, blood cancers, gastric cancers and cervical cancer.

The “Life Matters Public Cancer Education Forum” is held every last Wednesday of the month at Camden Medical Centre.