London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Prince of Wales Hospital offers hope to lung cancer patients

Prince of Wales Hospital offers hope to lung cancer patients

A mother of two who suffered from terminal lung cancer in 2017 has seen her health restored after she went through a targeted therapy.
The woman in her 30s was diagnosed of terminal ALK lung cancer -- a type of lung cancer that sees mutation in lung cells’ DNA -- after suffering frequent back pain, dizziness and headaches.

Her CT and MRI scans, as well as a biopsy check, showed that the cancer cells in her lungs had spread to her spine and brain.

But her condition has been reversed after she received targeted therapy -- a treatment that uses specific drugs to accurately attack cancer cells.

The woman is now recovering, and is even able to take part in activities requiring high stamina, including hiking.

Behind her treatment was the Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team at Prince of Wales Hospital, which has adopted a multi-pronged approach in treating lung cancer, ramping up the survival rate of patients, even those with terminal lung cancer.

The 16-year-old team -- consisting of staff from six disciplines, including oncology, surgery, medicine, pathology, anesthesiology and radiology – considers approaches including immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.

The team has also successfully detected lung cancer in some patients early.

Another case in 2016 involved a 65-year-old retired engineer, Yau, who was diagnosed with stage 1 of multiple primary lung cancer -- a kind of lung cancer characterized by more than one cancerous lesion -- after suffering coughs.

But the team faced a dilemma in treatment, as cancer cells were found on several lobes of Yau’s lungs.

“There were so many things to consider, like should we remove all the cancerous parts -- but would Yau be able to breathe properly afterwards?” Ng said.

“We tried to retain his pulmonary function as much as possible.”

To do so, the team’s surgeons performed three types of minimally invasive surgeries on Yau in a span of three years.

They included partial removal of lung tissues via a 3-centimeter cut on skin and an operation performed in a hybrid operation room – where there were several imaging devices, surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses.

The team also performed “bronchoscopic microwave ablation” (BMA) on the patient, a scarless technique using microwave energy emitted from a catheter to destroy cancer cells.

“And only two hospitals in the world, Prince of Wales Hospital (in HK) and St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, are equipped with the BMA technique.”

The team has partnered with nursing cases managers, launching the “Thoracic ERAS” program at the hospital in 2018 to enhance lung cancer patients’ post-surgery recovery.

'The program can drastically reduce the duration of hospitalization,” Ward Manager at Prince of Wales Hospital’s Department of Surgery Yeung Wai-kit said.

Yeung said throughout the program, each team of two nursing cases managers would oversee 40 to 50 lung cancer patients. The managers teach patients how they should take care of themselves before and after the surgeries, including exercises for physiotherapy, points to note for anesthesia, and follow up with dietitians.

Tony Mok Shu-kam, the hospital’s honorary consultant, said he hoped the team can pioneer in advanced lung cancer treatments in the future, including cell therapy and cancer vaccines.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×