Ms Leong Pei Ying, 41, is grateful that proton beam therapy (PBT) is now available in Singapore, and is covered by her Integrated Shield Plan (IP).

The hospital clinical administrator has had her skull opened five times since she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in her frontal lobe 11 years ago, when she was 30 years old.

The operations in 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024 were to cut out as much of the cancer tumour as possible. But each time after surgery, the tumour grew again.

Ms Leong said she had thought of going to the US for the treatment, but this would not have been covered by insurance and she found the cost prohibitive. Aside from the cost of the therapy, she would also need to be there for over a month as the treatment is done in more than 30 short doses daily.

Her bill of $67,000 for undergoing the therapy at SAM was almost entirely covered by her IP and rider.

Singapore is the second country in South-east Asia to offer PBT. The other is Thailand, but treatment there is exclusively for Thai nationals.

Singapore’s first PBT centre opened at Mount Elizabeth Novena in May 2023. Two more opened one month later at the Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine Holdings (SAM) at Biopolis, and NCCS.