HONG KONG, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- An expert attending a cancer conference in Hong Kong has said he hopes to downgrade lung cancer from a fatal illness into a chronic illness.
Tony Mok, co-chairman of the organizing & scientific committees of the symposium and a professor with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said at the opening ceremony Saturday of the 2nd Pan Pacific Lung Cancer Conference and the 10th Annual Scientific Symposium of the Hong Kong Cancer Institute that lung cancer has been labeled as a fatal illness with short survival in the past, reported Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency.
"But in this conference, we shall witness a major transition in management of this fatal disease. Advances in knowledge of molecular biology and development of new targeted therapy hold the promise to a more durable tumor control with much less toxicity. I hope we can, and we will, convert lung cancer into a chronic illness," he said.
Mok has established the first Lung Cancer Research Group in the Asia-Pacific region with active members from cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei, Seoul and Sydney.
