Over the last 50 years since its founding, the Singapore Cancer Registry (SCR) has captured data on all cancers by histological diagnosis, as well as notification by doctors through clinical assessment. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, SCR published a commemorative monograph dedicated to its founder, the late Emeritus Professor Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam.
Hailed as Singapore’s ‘Father of Pathology’, Prof Shanmugaratnam established the SCR and served as its Director from 1968 to 2002. He was also a world-leading expert on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Emeritus Professor at NUS and Emeritus Consultant at the National University Hospital.
Prof Shanmugaratnam had the foresight to shape the SCR into a comprehensive, population-based national registry that served to provide data for the formulation and evaluation of cancer control policies in Singapore. It also became a goldmine for clinicians and medical researchers, and contributed very significantly to placing Singapore on the global map for cancer research.
“The data storage and retrieval system he developed was way ahead of his time,” said Emeritus Professor Lee Hin Peng at the SCR’s 50th anniversary event on 25 November 2019.
“Very often, fellow pathologists would like to find out if one of their patients had a previous diagnosis of a cancer. All that was needed was a phone call to the Registry and within seconds, the answer is given, just as it is today. But in those days, there were no computers. The manual strip index panels, which were not subject to power and system failures, would form the conceptual framework for the first computerised database system called CANREG developed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer,” said Prof Lee.
Prof Lee and Professor Chia Kee Seng, Founding Dean, were part of the Singapore Cancer Registry’s pioneer team, working closely with Prof Shanmugaratnam, and they are now advisors to SCR.
During the event, Minister for Health Mr Gan Kim Yong unveiled the Singapore Cancer Registry’s 50th Anniversary commemorative monograph.
“Through the pioneering work of its founder, the late Emeritus Professor K Shanmugaratnam, what started as a simple card index registry at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Pathology in 1950 has grown into a robust population-based cancer registry,” said Mr Gan.
He added, “A robust cancer surveillance system can provide a better understanding of the scale and profile of cancers in Singapore, and is instrumental in developing an appropriate framework for action — be it for primary prevention, early detection or in the delivery of cancer treatment. It also allows us to assess the efficacy of cancer control measures and the healthcare system as a whole.”
After the unveiling, Prof Chia spoke about cancer trends over the last five decades in Singapore and how data from the registry helps guide public health policy for the efficient allocation of resources.
As the oldest disease registry in Singapore, SCR has collated millions of entries, and has become an invaluable resource for monitoring cancer trends, conducting clinical research, guiding health policy and maximising the efficient allocation of resources.
The vision and dedication of one man, Prof Shanmugaratnam, has enabled policymakers, clinicians and researchers to prevent, control and manage the scourge of cancer in Singapore.
The 50th Anniversary Monograph covers data from 1968 to 2017, and comprises two books: the first includes a tribute to Professor Shanmugaratnam, a technical report about cancer classifications and cancer trends in Singapore over the years; and the second compiles the complete SCR appendices (cancer data in table format). The monograph can be downloaded here.
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