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　　    SINGAPORE, April 21 (Xinhua) -- About 400 leading cancer experts, researchers and public health administrators gathered here Saturday for a two-day forum on cancer management.

    The forum was organized by Lancet, a world leading scientific journal, and aimed to tackle the cancer cost in Asia.

    Speaking at the forum, Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan called for greater collaboration to push research outcomes quickly to patients.

    "I'm optimistic the cancer research and clinical community can do this, based on Singapore's own experience," he said.

    He added that, "For example, through the Singapore Cancer Syndicate, under A-Star (the Agency for Science, Technology and Research), we have successfully established a national program in cancer research that straddles basic and clinical research, and brings together research groups on cancers that have significant mortality in our population."

    He also called on the medical research community to focus on Asia.

    "We will all gain if the international research community expands such collaboration networks across the world. In particular, focus must increase on Asia as a key node in these networks. As life span increases across Asia with economic development, the burden of cancer will inevitably increase," he said.

    Projections by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the number of new cancer cases in Asia will increase by more than half, to 7 million, by 2020.