“Professor Narong Khuntikeo worked at Khon Kaen University, Thailand, for 40 years. He was a pioneering liver surgeon who dedicated his life to educating and helping the population of the Isan region, northeast Thailand, as well as the people of Southeast Asia. Working within his homeland and also internationally, Professor Narong was instrumental in drawing attention to liver fluke related CCA, specifically due to infection by Opisthorchis viverrini, which is increasing in incidence in Thailand, as well as in Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. CCA incidence is also increasing globally via the closely related liver fluke species, Opisthorchis felineus, found in eastern Europe and Russia, and Clonorchis sinensis distributed from northern Vietnam throughout China and Korea. Professor Narong also played a significant role in the establishment and development of the Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) and spent many years working with the CASCAP team to screen people living around the Isan region, as well as throughout Thailand, for liver fluke infection and CCA. Together with colleagues, Professor Narong has extended the CASCAP into Lao PDR, with future establishment of the CASCAP planned in other Southeast Asian countries. I speak on behalf of the whole Global Cholangiocarcinoma Alliance (GCA) committee when I say that Professor Narong Khuntikeo’s passing is an immense loss to the global CCA community and that he will be greatly missed.”
Professor Ross H Andrews, Cholangiocarcinoma Research Institute (CARI), Khon Kaen University, Thailand and GCA Co-Chair
