Five-Year Cancer Epidemiology at the National Referral Hospital: Hospital-Based Cancer Registry Data in Indonesia.

PURPOSE: In 2016, there were 1,308,061 cases of cancer being treated in Indonesia, with 2.2 trillion rupiahs spent, amounting to $486,960,633 in US dollars (purchasing power parity 2016). The high burden of cancers in Indonesia requires a valid data collection to inform future cancer-related policies. The purpose of this study is to report cancer epidemiological data from 2008 to 2012 based on Hospital-Based Cancer Registry (HBCR) data from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Indonesia. METHODS: This was a descriptive study with cross-sectional design. Data were collected from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital HBCR 2008-2012. Demographical, diagnostic, stages of cancer, and histopathological types of cancer data were extracted. RESULTS: After screening, 18,216 cases were included. A total of 12,438 patients were older than 39 years of age (68.3%), with a female-to-male ratio of 9:5. Most patients have cancers at advanced stages (stages III and IV, 10.2%). The most common sites of cancer were cervix uteri (2,878 cases, 15.8%), breast (2,459 cases, 13.5%), hematopoietic and reticuloendothelial systems (1,422 cases, 7.8%), nasopharynx (1,338 cases, 7.4%), and lymph nodes (1,104 cases, 6.1%). CONCLUSION: From this HBCR, cancer incidence in female was almost twice the incidence in male, largely because of the burden of cervical and breast cancers. The cervix uteri as one of the top five cancer sites based on this HBCR, 2008-2012, are still approximately consistent with Global Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence 2018, which portrayed that Indonesia has been severely afflicted by cervical cancer cases more than any other Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries. The HBCR could serve as a robust database of epidemiological data for cancer cases in Indonesia.

Regional collaboration to improve quality of radiation therapy in Asia.

In Asia, several challenges hinder the delivery of high-quality cancer treatment, especially radiation therapy (RT). Many Asian countries face large-scale shortage of RT centres and treatment machines. Additionally, there is also a significant technological gap, with many RT centres in Asia still using outdated technology. There is an urgent need to improve radiation treatment quality in Asia. The Federation of Asian Organizations for Radiation Oncology (FARO) was set up to foster regional collaboration, which we believe can help to identify and solve some of these issues collectively. This report describes the background and rationale of starting FARO, and puts forth some of the early achievements of the group, including fact-finding and educational activities. Finally, we discuss future possibilities, including strategic proposals that may benefit the RT community and our patients in Asia.

Ensuring safety and sustainability of radiotherapy services during the COVID-19 pandemic in resources constrain country: An Indonesian experience.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has placed a significant burden on the healthcare sector, overwhelming health services in affected countries worldwide. As healthcare facilities reorganize their services to adapt to this challenging problem, it is important that the sustainability of essential oncology services, including radiotherapy, is maintained. This article describes the Indonesian experience in ensuring sustainability of radiotherapy services during the pandemic, highlighting various important adjustments which were made to allow radiotherapy centers nationwide to continue operating while protecting staff and patients from the risk of disease transmission. As the backlog of patients waiting to start treatment will inevitably grow, some insight on how to proactively manage this issue will also be described.