Following the MOU sign-off between National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) and Gene Solutions Malaysia in June to commemorate a joint- collaboration between both parties in providing education on screening for early detection of cancer to the public and HCPs – the first instalment of the Cancer Screening and Detection Workshops was held successfully on 10th and 11th of August.
The workshops were held over 2 days in Kuala Lumpur and were crafted specifically for public and HCP participation, respectively. Both days saw over 70 public and 70 HCPs turning out to attend the events. The attendees included cancer survivors, patients, caregivers and general public on day 1, primary care physicians (GPs) and specialists on day 2. Gene Solutions’ session on Screening and Early Detection of Cancer – focusing primarily on Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) and SPOT-MAS generated a lot of interest from the attendees.
The sessions started out with Dr Murallitharan Munisamy, the Managing Director of NCSM – providing the attendees a snapshot of the available cancer screening tests in Malaysia, the benefits cancer screening offers, and the challenges required to overcome to ensure effective screening and detection of cancer. This provided a nice segway to Dr Ahmad, Gene Solutions Malaysia’s MSL to introduce MCED and SPOT-MAS – how it complements and is able to strengthen the current available cancer screening modalities. For the HCP session, Dr Jennifer Leong, a consultant clinical oncologist from Sunway Medical Center also presented her expert opinion on how early cancer screening and detection can optimise treatment outcomes.
Both sessions saw very active participation from the attendees through interactive sessions of questions and answers where robust dialogues took place between the presenters and attendees. In the session to the public, queries revolved around ctDNA and how it is used in SPOT-MAS to detect cancer early, the technology behind the SPOT-MAS test, suitable candidates for SPOT-MAS test and many more. Whereas the HCPs session delved deeper into the technology of ctDNA and SPOT-MAS, how ctDNA is utilized also for monitoring and surveillance in cancer treatment, and the increasing importance of MCED and ctDNA in the cancer screening currently and in near future.
Gene Solutions Malaysia’s local lab partner Innoquest was also present during the public workshop, with a GP Dr Revathy on standby for referrals for SPOT-MAS. This provided a platform for the attendees to consult and approach if they are interested to do the SPOT-MAS test.
The successful completion of the 1st series of workshops marks a good start to the upcoming 3 more workshops – 2 in September in Ipoh and Melaka respectively, and the last 1 in Penang in November.
About Gene Solutions Malaysia
Gene Solutions established its operations and services in Malaysia in 2023 and is committed to provide the local community access to next-generation genetic tests that support reproductive health and clinical oncology. In the field of clinical oncology, personalized minimal residual disease (MRD) detection, and multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests using advanced ctDNA technology are among some of the products available. Partnering with local laboratory partners Premier Integrated Lab and Innoquest Malaysia, Gene Solutions Malaysia is committed to enhancing healthcare with their innovative genetic solutions.
