History and Outlook of the Treatment of Bone Cancer in Hong Kong

Prof. Leung Ping Chung
Chair Professor
Department of Orthapaedics and Traumatology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

There is an average of ten to twenty children in Hong Kong diagnosed with primary bone cancer each year. How exactly should this rare cancer disease be treated? Prof. Leung Ping Chung is an experienced surgeon and a chair professor at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition, he was also a founder of the Bone Bank in 1986 to serve patients requiring bone transplants.

Past Practice: Amputation

Prof. Leung recalled that in the past, the common practice in Hong Kong for the treatment of primary bone cancer was to amputate the limb. But the rate of success was very low because most such cases were diagnosed at a very late stage at which time the cancer cells had already spread to other parts of the body.

Some ten years ago, the increase in funding for medical research enabled the introduction of new drugs, more effective chemotherapy and bone reconstruction, resulting in new breakthroughs in the treatment of bone cancers. Anti-cancer drugs were first applied to prevent the spreading of cancer cells. This was followed by the surgically removal of the cancer affected bone and then bone transplantation. The process preserved up to 70% of limbs, thus improving the subsequent quality of life.

Bone Transplantation and Limb Salvage

Thanks to the Bone Bank of the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the Prince of Wales Hospital, bone cancer patients can now avoid amputation. The Bone Bank accepts bone donation from anyone who did not die of infectious disease or cancer. All the bones donated will be examined by specialist to ascertain that they are suitable for transplantation.

Bone transplantation is an important part of limb reconstruction. Although body rejection to transplanted bones is relatively low and the ability to form new bones is strong, it is not easy to find the bones with the suitable shape and size for transplantation, especially for young patients.

At present, the demand on the Bone Bank is on the increase. Although it supplies bone grafts to all hospitals in Hong Kong, the Prince of Wales Hospital is getting a relatively larger share because it has the largest number of bone transplantation cases and the surgeons are also experienced.

Trials Using the Combination with Chinese Herbal Medicine

Children bone cancer patients enjoyed a higher recovery rate, about 50% to 60%, than adults. There is still a lot of room for improvement. For that reason Prof. Leung is starting to include Chinese herbal medicine as part of the treatment program. Clinical trials on the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine on cancer patients are still in their early stages. It is hoped that patients would eventually benefit from such efforts.