The HKCH Charitable Foundation has granted a funding for the Department of Radiology to conduct a study on using indwelling tunneled catheter with drainage bottle on terminal cancer children suffering from pleural effusion or ascites. The equipment enables them to drain fluid at home to relieve tough symptoms like breathing difficulties and abdominal distension. Various indicators will be measured during the process. Their quality of life will also be assessed.

Dr Kevin Fung, Associate Consultant (Radiology) said his study was inspired by a teenager with bone cancer who had serious shortness of breath due to pleural effusion. "Mid-autumn festival was approaching and he wanted to go home. But that was impossible as he had to be attached to a drainage tank the entire time. I looked around and found this portable equipment. After draining out most chest fluid, he could cap the catheter and move around freely. He could leave the hospital and spend time with his family before he passed away. This encouraged me to help more patients.”

This palliative therapy has been shown to be effective for adults, but information on children is limited. Dr Fung explained, "With my prospective study, I wish to quantify its benefits for children and provide evidence for including it as a standard treatment eventually.”

▲"I'm grateful for the donation support. Big or small, all types of research have the potential to translate into direct patient care.” ── Dr Kevin Fung

The D. H. Chen Foundation Clinical Research Fellowship Program was established with a donation from the Foundation to support HKCH doctors to conduct research, where relieving manpower will be arranged to share their clinical duties.

Dr Julia Shi, an associate consultant in the Cardiology team is among the third batch of selected fellows. She will investigate the plasma level of cardiomyocyte-specific cell-free DNA in heart failure children. She said, "Echocardiography and other common biomarkers are not totally reliable. Proving the relationship between this particular DNA and paediatric cardiomyopathy might help to develop an accurate tool for early diagnosis and monitoring.” She is also setting up a territory-wide paediatric cardiomyopathy patient database to provide reference for treatment.

Dr Shi cherishes the rare opportunity to pursue basic science research, "With guidance of my HKU professor and lab personnel, my research is going in the right direction."

▲"From DNA extraction to processing, every successful step in the lab is such an exciting achievement for me!” ── Dr Julia Shi

Another fellow, Dr Grace Lam, is an associate consultant in the Haematology & Oncology team. She pointed out that chemotherapy has been the firstline treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, but there are many side effects. "It really hurts to see children suffer. Is there any way to cut down on chemotherapy? Can we use immunotherapy on newly diagnosed children, not just refractory or relapse cases? The patients' need is right in front of me. Rather than waiting for some overseas research to come by, I might as well find out myself.”

Using patients' bone marrow samples, Dr Lam will evaluate the in-vitro effect of an antibody drug in damaging acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She will also look into the changes of patients' own natural killer cells during their course of treatment. "I wish my findings could aid the development of personalized targeted therapies,” she said.

▲"Through research, I hope to lessen the suffering of children having chemotherapy.” ── Dr Grace Lam