Icon also announces key partnerships and initiatives in a commitment to making cancer care more accessible at the new centre.
Together the partners plan to facilitate more comprehensive genomic profiling data to increase access to more trial options for cancer patients. This first-ever collaboration in SEA will help advance the biopharmaceutical research and development ecosystem for healthcare professionals, institutions and patients by taking a more personalised approach to care and offering people with cancer more treatment options.
Presently, the cancer genomic testing process encompasses biological sampling from a patient, after which the test results are returned to the requesting doctor. Unless a doctor is aware of an existing clinical trial, they are likely to prescribe their patient a standard therapy at that juncture. Through this collaboration, Oncoshot, Icon and Roche will be able to easily identify cancer patients who are a match for existing clinical trials being run within their networks. Furthermore, real-time population matching will also enable companies and clinical research organisations (CROs) on the Oncoshot clinical trial platform to engage Icon as a preferred clinical trial centre, increasing patient access to clinical trial options for their cancer.
“This collaboration marks our commitment to advancing cancer care and increasing access to the latest in cancer clinical trials. By digitising a patient’s genomic profile, we are able to accelerate the process of matching patients to the most suitable clinical trials,” said Serena Wee, CEO of Icon ASEAN and Hong Kong. “By investing in this partnership, our patients can access new and emerging advances in cancer treatment quicker, giving them and their families new hope and opportunities.”
“Mount Alvernia Hospital’s partnership with Icon reflects our commitment to provide cancer patients with the full continuum of care through a one-stop end-to-end treatment which includes the PET-CT scan, medical oncology, radiation oncology, haematology treatments and surgery in Mount Alvernia Hospital. Supported by Mount Alvernia Hospital pastoral care team, patients and their families will be given a listening ear and the much needed emotional and spiritual support.” Dr James Lam, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Alvernia Hospital
Radiation Therapy Treatment
Icon’s international expertise in radiation therapy treatment will be made available at the new Icon Cancer Centre, provided by an experienced team of radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, medical physicists, and radiation oncology nurses. These treatments will be precisely planned by a dedicated team of radiation therapy treatment planning specialists who have in depth experience in managing complex cancer cases across the world.
The centre’s technological capability is underpinned by advanced radiation therapy equipment and software. It is equipped with a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator (linac), which delivers pin-point precision radiation therapy with advanced imaging and sub-millimeter accuracy for a wide range of cancer types. This machine is also able to deliver HyperArc treatment, the latest end-to-end solution for multiple brain tumours. HyperArc eliminates the need to deliver whole brain radiation therapy treatment which comes with significant side effects. HyperArc is able to accurately target multiple brain tumours with high dose radiation therapy whilst limiting radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissue, reducing side effects and improving quality of life. HyperArc is evolving treatment for advanced secondary brain tumours allowing clinicians to treat up to 20 tumours within the brain and a greater volume of tumours compared to only one to two lesions without this software.
Alongside the centre’s advanced treatment technologies patients will benefit from Icon Group’s international radiation therapy expertise which includes a long-term partnership with Varian and a member of the Varian Adaptive Intelligence Consortium. This membership allows Icon to collaboratively develop clinical and technical aspects of Varian’s adaptive technology and wider radiation therapy treatments and techniques ensuring patients at the new centre will have access to new treatments as they become available.
Nuclear Medicine and PET-CT
Elevating the new integrated cancer centre’s nuclear medicine and PET-CT capabilities is the latest Biograph mCT from Siemens Healthineers that delivers clear and precise lesion detectability, spatial resolution and quantification accuracy. The latest Positron Emission Tomography with Computed Tomography (PET-CT) machine will enable patients to receive a high standard of care with precision diagnosis through heightened image quality and lower dose radiation in a shorter period of time.
Chemotherapy treatment and compounding
Icon Group is one of Australia’s leading chemotherapy compounders, providing infusions to both private and public hospitals. Icon’s integrated cancer centre at Mount Alvernia Hospital provides sterile, high-quality compounding services for cancer care. The pharmacy-based compounding suite will provide a quality aseptic environment for preparation of intravenous cancer treatment infusions. By compounding chemotherapy and related treatments onsite, Icon has the ability to offer a wider range of drug options to meet the region’s growing cancer needs.
At the official opening ceremony, Icon also announced a partnership with Quantum Pharma (owned by Quantum Health). This partnership will see in-house radiopharmacy established within the integrated cancer centre. Under the partnership, Quantum Pharma will utilise a radiation therapy bunker to produce radiopharmaceuticals, due to its radiation exposure shielding. This will accelerate the development of radiopharmaceuticals for patients in Singapore and potential use across Icon Group’s broader network.
Radiopharmaceutical production is essential in the delivery of a class of cancer treatment called Theranostics. Theranostics is an emerging class of cancer treatments that uses one radioactive drug to identify and diagnose specific targets, known as tumour receptors via a PET-CT scan – and a second therapeutic radioactive nuclide attached to the same drug to deliver treatment directly to the tumour cells. It is used to treat cancers that have spread (metastasised), or where advanced cancer has not responded to other treatments. The most experience and success has been in thyroid, neuroblastomas and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancers and recently in metastatic prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.
This partnership will extend to the research and development of not only theranostics, but also other cancer treatments through Quantum Pharma’s expertise with radioactive tracers. This will bring hope and new opportunities to patients with very limited options left to treat their cancer.
Committed to providing patients across ASEAN with improved patient access to medications and emerging treatments, Icon Cancer Centre Singapore will launch the Singapore arm of the Icon Cancer Foundation. As the first cancer foundation in the private sector, Icon Cancer Centre Singapore is poised to become the first private cancer centre in Singapore to be able to launch Investigator-Initiated Trials (IIT) initiated by our Icon doctors with a focus on advancing radiation treatments.
Icon Cancer Centre at Mount Alvernia will serve as Icon Singapore’s clinical trial headquarters, with full-service facilities and a dedicated team of clinical trial coordinators and research nurses to fully support and care for patients on trials. Since the inception of its formal clinical trials unit in 2021, Icon Cancer Centre Singapore has launched 15 clinical trials, with 9 more scheduled to begin in the coming months. Moving forward, the key research focus will be on paediatric oncology, radiation oncology and theranostics, in addition to medical oncology and haematology.
The centre’s research capabilities are underpinned by Icon Group’s 35-year+ experience in research and clinical trials. This experience has seen Icon contribute to new lines of treatments and improvements in standard of care, including one of the world’s largest advanced prostate cancer trials. This expertise will help bring leading clinical trials and research projects into Singapore providing hope to people who have exhausted traditional lines of treatment and increasing access to new techniques and treatment regimes.
Beyond the offerings of Icon Cancer Centre as an integrated cancer facility with cutting-edge technology and evidence-based patient care, Icon is committed to making services affordable and accessible to people from all walks of life. Icon Cancer Centre has partnered homegrown financial services company Singlife to provide more accessible and sustainable cancer treatments and services, so that they can focus on recovery.
Icon and Singlife have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore further collaboration to bring greater affordability to customers, as guided by the cancer treatment and service guidelines released by the Ministry of Health.
Icon Cancer Centre is a leading private cancer care provider delivering a holistic approach to cancer care. Icon Cancer Centre is part of Icon Group, a global cancer care provider with over 50 centres globally. Icon Cancer Centre has seven specialist clinics in Singapore and a dedicated health screening clinic. With a prominent and experienced team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, haematologists, paediatric haematologist-oncologists, palliative care specialists, general practitioners and visiting surgical oncologists, Icon provides end-to-end cancer care from screening and diagnosis, through to treatment and beyond.
Our vision is to deliver the best cancer care possible, to as many people as possible, as close to home as possible. To make cancer care accessible, we are on the panel of six major shield plan providers in Singapore. To further our commitment, Icon is also in discussions with major shield plan providers such as Singlife & Great Eastern Life to make cancer treatment and services more accessible
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