SINGAPORE: Singapore's National Cancer Centre has joined forces with a leading US research institute to work on new treatments which are specifically catered for Asians.

The centre will collaborate with the Michigan-based Van Andel Research Institute to study how Asian patients respond to anti-cancer drugs.

According to NCC, the partnership will give the American researchers access to larger numbers of patients with cancers that are common among Asians.

One example is kidney cancer which is on the rise throughout the world.

In 2005, it was the 7th most common cancer in men in the United States.

In Singapore, 334 people died from the disease between 1998 and 2002.

It is one of three cancers that will be examined initially because Asian and non-Asians respond differently to treatment.

The other cancers to be studied are bile duct cancer and head and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The research aims to develop new tools to predict how a patient will respond to cancer drugs.

The partnership will also provide specialised training for future clinician scientists and pathologists. - CNA/ir