A new drug on trial called Yttrium-90 have been proven effective and offers hope for late-stage liver cancer patients.

Compared to the commonly prescribed Sorafenib, which costs $10,000 each month for the rest of the patient's life, Yttrium-90 offers a quicker solution at a total cost of $10-20,000. The two drugs are being compared in a trial running at SGH, NCCS and other national and regional hospitals to get empirical proof of its efficacy in Asian patients.

Studies in western countries have shown Yttrium-90 to be effective. However,an Asian trial is conducted because of the difference in cause - liver cancers in western countries are largely caused by hepatitis C and alcohol, while in Asian countries they are usually caused by hepatitis B.

In an earlier study of Yttrium-90 done between 2008-2012, Dr Andrew Khor, a new graduate from Duke-NUS, found that 103 advanced liver cancer patients treated with Yttrium-90 lived several months longer than those who were not treated with the drug. There is also indication that it might work better on Asian compared to Caucasians.

Professor Pierce Chow of Duke-NUS, and Senior Consultant at SGH and NCCS, said further studies are needed. The current trial has just started and will be recruiting patients well into next year.

Liver cancer is the third biggest killer cancer in Singapore, accounting for more than 400 deaths here each year.