Norman Ng, Director of Patient Advocacy and Public Affairs at Healthcare Thinkers, shared a post by ASPIRE for Lung Cancer, adding:
“Support for ASPIRE’s Efforts in Advancing Lung Cancer Care in Hong Kong
As the Convenor of the Hong Kong Lung Cancer Patient Concern Group, I wholeheartedly endorse and applaud ASPIRE for Lung Cancer’s recent convening of the 3rd edition of the Hong Kong Roundtable series. This vital initiative brought together leading clinicians, academics, and health system leaders—including representatives from the Hospital Authority—to discuss practical solutions across the entire lung cancer care continuum.
The focus on bridging access gaps to innovative NSCLC treatments, reducing diagnostic delays, strengthening multidisciplinary team coordination, and preparing for perioperative approaches is particularly inspiring and directly addresses the real-world challenges faced by patients in Hong Kong.
The roundtable’s emphasis on sustainable funding mechanisms, timely molecular testing, and optimized perioperative pathways aligns perfectly with the urgent needs of lung cancer patients. Innovations such as perioperative immunotherapy have shown remarkable potential in improving survival rates for early-stage disease, and discussions like these are crucial for translating clinical progress into equitable patient outcomes.
I hope to see even more exchanges and discussions on lung cancer treatment in the future, involving patient voices to ensure reforms are patient-centered.
Looking ahead to 2026, we earnestly call on the Hong Kong Hospital Authority and private healthcare institutions （public – private partnership) to step up prevention efforts—such as expanding lung cancer screening programs with AI-assisted technologies as outlined in the 2025 Policy Address—enhance services for lung cancer patients, and accelerate the introduction of innovative drugs (including advanced PD-1 inhibitors and bispecific antibodies).
With upcoming regulatory reforms like the “1+” mechanism and the establishment of the Centre for Medical Products Regulation, there is a golden opportunity to improve access to cutting-edge therapies and early detection tools.
Together, let’s continue advocating for better lung cancer care in Hong Kong. Thank you, ASPIRE, for your leadership!”
Quoting ASPIRE for Lung Cancer‘s post:
“ASPIRE had recently convened the 3rd edition of the Hong Kong Roundtable series, bringing together clinicians, academics and health system leaders to advance practical solutions across the lung cancer care continuum, with a focus on improving how patients move from diagnosis to timely, equitable treatment.
Hong Kong’s lung cancer landscape is evolving quickly. While innovation is expanding the standard of care, real-world access and pathway readiness need to keep pace, so that clinical progress translates into better outcomes for patients.
The 3rd roundtable focused on:
Closing access gaps to innovative NSCLC treatments
- Next step: Explore more sustainable funding and access mechanisms that better match today’s treatment paradigm.
Reducing diagnostic-to-treatment delays (staging, biopsy, molecular testing)
- Next step: Strengthen pathway coordination and testing readiness to support timely decision-making.
Strengthening MDT coordination and real-world implementation
- Next step: Improve operational alignment so evidence-based practice is feasible across settings.
Supporting readiness for earlier-stage interventions and perioperative approaches
- Next step: Continue clinician and system education, and align processes that enable appropriate uptake, including optimising perioperative pathways to demonstrate clearer patient benefit in early-stage lung cancer.
Optimising perioperative treatment decisions across patient subgroups
- Next step: Strengthen frameworks to support selection of the most appropriate perioperative approach based on key patient and disease characteristics (e.g., stage, biomarker status, comorbidities, surgical fitness, and recurrence risk).
A huge thank you to all participants for your time and leadership, Assoc. Prof. Herbert Loong (CUHK), Prof. Martin Chi-Sang Wong (CUHK-CHEHP), Prof. Rina Hui (CUHK), Mr William Chui (Hospital Authority), Prof. Elaine Chow (CUHK), Prof. James Ho (HKU), Prof. Michael Hsin (HKU), Dr. Li Ki Kwong (Queen Elizabeth Hospital), and Dr. Molly Li (CUHK). We also thank our partners and co-hosts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong-CHEHP and Asia Pacific Coalition against Lung Cancer, for jointly supporting this series with ASPIRE.”
More posts featuring Norman Ng on OncoDaily.
