Nan Zun Teo1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Department of General Surgery, Changi General Hospital, Singapore; 2JGO Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. JGO Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: jgo@amepc.org
This interview can be cited as: Teo NZ, Yeo JY. Meeting the Expert of JGO: Dr. Nan Zun Teo. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2024. https://jgo.amegroups.org/post/view/meet-the-expert-of-jgo-dr-nan-zun-teo.
Expert introduction
Dr. Nan Zun Teo (Figure 1) is one of the colorectal surgeons at Changi General Hospital (Singapore). His current interests include laparoscopic and robotic surgery for benign and malignant colorectal conditions as well as hernias and gallstone disease. To date he has performed more than 300 minimally invasive major colorectal resections.
Apart from clinical work, Dr Teo is also actively involved in clinical research as well as undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. He is currently a clinical assistant professor at DUKE-NUS Medical School, clinical lecturer at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and a Physician Faculty of the Singhealth General Residency Program. He is also a Clinical Core Faculty Member with the Post-Graduate Year 1 Programme in Singhealth. He has published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals and is an active reviewer in a number of colorectal journals. He is also sits on the editorial board of numerous colorectal journals.
Figure 1 Dr. Nan Zun Teo
Interview
JGO: What drove you into the field of colorectal surgery?
Dr. Teo: Colorectal surgery encompasses a unique variety of surgeries with varying complexities, ranging from benign conditions to advanced malignancies requiring major resection. It also allows for adoption of advanced technology in our surgeries enabling us to constantly push the envelope and bring about improved patient care. Lastly the case load for colorectal surgery is very high in our region, ensuring we never run out of work!
JGO: Could you provide an overview of the recent advancements in minimally-invasive colorectal surgery? Are there any techniques that your team has added to their practice? How have these advancements impacted your practice and improved patient outcomes?
Dr. Teo: I would say the one thing that has transformed colorectal surgery in the past decade would be the adoption of robotic colorectal surgery. We started our robotic colorectal surgery program in 2016 and have not looked back. We perform a range of robotic colorectal surgeries from total mesorectal excision to hemicolectomies with d3 dissection and even multivisceral resections, allowing more patients to benefit from minimally invasive surgery (MIS). This advancement has improved surgeon ergonomics, clinical outcomes, and adoption of MIS in our practice.
JGO: In the special series that you led in 2020 on current strategies in colon cancer management, it was shared that with the implementation of colorectal cancer screening programs, there has been increasing incidence of malignant colonic polyps which poses a management dilemma for surgeons. What are the current strategies for the management of malignant colonic polyps?
Dr. Teo: These patients are now discussed in a multidisciplinary platform involving oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and gastroenterologists. This allows us to decide which group of patients would benefit from definitive surgery and which patients can be managed with close surveillance avoiding major surgery. We work closely with a great team of gastroenterologists who are able to perform advanced endoscopic resections of lesions with favorable morphology.
JGO: In the field of academic publication, what aspects of colorectal surgery do you think journals should pay more attention to?
Dr. Teo: Journals should have a broad range of topics encompassing functional work, benign disease and malignancy. Recently with the introduction of new robotic platforms into the market, readers would be interested to find out the differences and advantages of each platform.
JGO: Could you share some of the ongoing projects that you are working on now?
Dr. Teo: My ongoing projects are focused on looking at data on rectal cancer involving various neoadjuvant therapy, as well as robotic surgery for reversal of Hartmann procedure. With these projects, we hope to uncover what is best for our patients to eventually work towards the goal of finding the optimal strategy to treat rectal cancer.
JGO: As an author and collaborator, what goals do you hope to achieve with JGO?
Dr. Teo: I hope to have continued collaboration as a reviewer and of course work on projects with colleagues in the region.