Current Management of Upper GI Cancers

Current Management of Upper GI Cancers

The presentation and diagnosis of stomach malignancy usually occurring in 2/3 of patients at a late stage when treatment is often difficult and unsuccessful. In Singapore, it is the fifth and seventh most common cancer with an incidence of around 400 new cases annually. Over the years, prognosis and treatment has only improved moderately with low overall survival rate. Surgical excision offers the only possibility of cure or long-term survival with many patients having limited long-term survival. However, the focus on multi-modal approaches have added significant improvements to survival. The advancement of surgical techniques should as laparoscopic resection has led to improved outcome and lower complications. Along with this, the development of newer medical treatments with chemotherapy has slowly improved the length of disease-free survival.


Our Speaker

​Dr. Kan is a senior consultant surgeon who has developed expertise in Upper Gastrointestinal, Bariatric and General Surgery over many years, focusing specifically on minimally-invasive surgery (MIS). He specialises in disease of the gastrointestinal tract (oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver and colon) and has extensive experience in keyhole surgery for simple and complex hernia and gallstones as well as therapeutic endoscopy.  

Dr. Kan received undergraduate training at Manchester University Medical School and postgraduate surgical training in the Cambridge region at Addenbrookes Hospital, both in the UK. He subsequently embarked on post-graduate senior surgical fellowships at world-renowned centers - the National Cancer Centre and the Cancer Institute (Tokyo, Japan), Prince of Wales Chinese University Hospital (Hong Kong) and Princess Alexandra Hospital (Brisbane, Australia). During this period he mastered techniques in thoracoscopic resections for oesophageal and gastric cancers and MIS for benign oesophageal disease.

Prior to private practice, he was the clinical lead in Upper GI focusing on MIS in general surgery as well as the surgical lead for trauma and the bariatric surgical services at Alexandra Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. He set up and developed a multidisciplinary team to treat severely obese patients with laparoscopic gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomies. He continues to be a visiting senior consultant surgeon at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Changi General Hospital.  

Dr. Kan has presented in many international conferences stretching from the USA, UK, Europe and Asia. He regularly participates in surgical workshops and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses as an invited speaker and instructor. He is also an appointed reviewer for the ANZ Journal of Surgery and SMJ (Singapore Medical Journal).