Research Publications

Regional anaesthesia is central to perioperative analgesia in foot and ankle surgery. Ultrasound-guided ankle and popliteal/saphenous nerve blocks are widely used, yet real-world evidence on their duration of action and factors associated with block failure is limited. This study aimed to document the duration of postoperative analgesia achieved with levobupivacaine ankle and popliteal/saphenous blocks and to explore contributors to failed or incomplete blocks.

Needs assessment tools may guide optimization of clinical services to be more patient-centered. As needs of patients living with and beyond colorectal cancer (CRC) may also be influenced by socio-cultural backgrounds and healthcare ecosystems, we developed and validated a needs assessment questionnaire for CRC in a multi-ethnic, low-and middle-income setting.

The perinatal period, from conception to one year postpartum, is a time of major physical and emotional change, with heightened risk for mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression—particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Poor maternal mental health during this phase can lead to obstetric complications and adversely affect child development and neurodevelopment.

The prospective phase III multi-centre L-MOCA trial (NCT03534453) has demonstrated the encouraging efficacy and manageable safety profile of olaparib maintenance therapy in the Asian (mainly Chinese) patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer (PSROC). In this study, we report the preplanned exploratory biomarker analysis of the L-MOCA trial, which investigated the effects of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on olaparib efficacy.

In KEYNOTE-355 (NCT02819518), the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy led to statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer with tumor programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score of at least 10. We report patient-reported outcomes from KEYNOTE-355.

The Asia Pacific Society for Immunodeficiencies (APSID) conducted nine primary immunodeficiency (PID) Schools in 5 years since inauguration to provide PID care training for early career physicians in Asia Pacific, a region with divergent needs in PID resources and training.

The issues and challenges in the diagnosis of drug allergy/hypersensitivity among children and adults in Asia are likely to be different from non-Asian countries.

Pembrolizumab monotherapy showed durable antitumour activity and manageable safety in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. We aimed to examine whether the addition of pembrolizumab would enhance the antitumour activity of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Few studies have examined the impact of cancer diagnosis on employment among breastcancer patients. We aim to gain an in-depth understanding on the employment issues faced by breast cancer patients aswell as their financial coping strategies in a multi-ethnic Asian setting.

The number of available reports regarding the influence of ethnicity on clinical features of allergic rhinitis (AR), especially disease severity in tropical climates, is limited. We aimed to compare clinical parameters and disease severity in AR patients of different ethnicities.