A world-leading system developed in Japan to detect liver cancer is to be introduced in Thailand, where the disease is a major health issue.
Fujifilm Corp has been working with the Thai Association for the Study of the Liver and the Health Ministry on the system, which could be introduced in fiscal 2024.
The Japanese imaging and health care solutions firm is hoping the screening system could be included in Thailand's clinical practice guidelines so that it will eventually be covered by insurance.
The project is being implemented in partnership with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In Japan, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening uses ultrasound and three tumour markers. For those at risk of the disease, the test is recommended once every three months, and for those at lower risk, every six months.
In Thailand, ultrasound and only one tumour marker are usually employed in HCC detection.
The difference in the screening system has led to a significant gap in detecting the disease between Japan and Southeast Asia.
HCC tumours are found at early stages at sizes of about 2 centimetres or less in many cases in Japan while for about half of liver cancer patients in Southeast Asia, tumours are 5cm or more in size when first found, according to the company.
Patients in the early stage of the disease are candidates to receive curative therapy such as resection or radiofrequency ablation, while those with HCC tumours 3cm or larger usually receive palliative treatment, such as transarterial chemoembolisation, Fujifilm said.
HCC patients in Japan appear to show the best overall survival rates in the world because of the nationwide detection system, according to Masatoshi Kudo, a professor at the Kindai University Faculty of Medicine.
Conducting a demonstration survey on the HCC surveillance using three tumour markers in Thailand in fiscal 2019, Fujifilm now aims to collect 3,000 evidence cases and analyse data within fiscal 2023.
"By making Thailand a model case, we would like to expand the Japan-standard HCC surveillance system into other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations," where the deadly cancer is also prevalent, a Fujifilm official said. Kyodo
