Adrian Toh works, travels, hits the gym and even has a six-pack.
Meeting him, you wouldn’t think that he’s been fighting cancer for the past three years.
After completing six months of chemotherapy earlier this year, the 42-year-old has returned to his full-time job as a financial consultant with Prudential, travels regularly with friends and family, and also hit the gym.
Along the way, he has also picked up qigong, is planning more overseas trips, and is working towards regaining the fitness level he had achieved before his latest round of cancer treatment.
In fact, before speaking to AsiaOne in May, Adrian had just finished a gym session.
“February 2025 was my peak fitness level, I would say,” he told us with a laugh.
After undergoing cancer treatment twice, Adrian said he has become more intentional about how he spends his time.
“The world is big. Even during my 13 years flying [with Singapore Airlines], I didn’t get to see the whole world yet. There are so many other places, cultures and cities that we can explore,” the former SIA leading steward shared.
He recently travelled to Bangkok and South Korea, and will be jetting off to Kuala Lumpur, Australia and Egypt later this year.
“Every year, I will try to do something for my birthday (in November) and I try to conquer a new bucket list of destinations that I’ve never been to. This time around, it’s Egypt,” he explained, adding that he has always been intrigued by Egypt’s history.
“It was part of my bucket list last year but because of the war and instability in that region, I put a pause on my plans.”
Because of his condition, there are some places he is unable to travel to such as Inner Mongolia, which has high altitude.
“There are places I would like to go, but I think should probably get better before I travel there.”
Apart from travelling, Adrian has invested more time into fitness.
He resumed strength training, rhythm cycling, and yoga a month ago, activities he enjoyed doing before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2023. He also picked up qigong as a hobby.
“I was doing qigong every day. Apparently it helps, but it also encourages me to be more grounded, because it is all about preserving and protecting your energy,” he shared, adding that it is the first thing he does every morning when he wakes up.
“I do it for 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes. If I am really ambitious, I may do it for 35 minutes or more. It’s just part of my routine these days.”
Adrian is also spending his time supporting charities that raise funds for cancer patients like himself.
For instance, he is the ambassador for the Fashion For Cancer charity show, which will take place at The Westin Singapore on Aug 29.
During the event, Adrian will walk the runway as a cancer patient and model to showcase his resilience and strength. He also hopes to encourage others who are battling cancer.
Previously, he participated in Hair for Hope and the Hope Train walk.
“This whole experience has taught me that I am actually a much stronger person, both mentally and physically, and that I am able to conquer all these kinds of difficulties,” Adrian told us.
Cancer battle
Adrian was first diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in June 2023.
After leaving his job at Singapore Airlines, he underwent a health check-up and learnt that he had cancer in his left lung. That July, he underwent surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy.
Because Adrian had stage four cancer, it had spread throughout his body, including to his adrenal glands.
Following chemotherapy, he still had a 1-cm tumour of stage four non-small cell lung cancer inside his left lung.
To keep it under control, Adrian was put on targeted therapy, a cancer treatment that utilises drugs designed to block the specific genes, proteins or tissue environments that allow cancer cells to grow.
As part of the treatment, he had to take one pill a day. He also had to go for check-ups every three months.
In October 2025, the cancer mutated into the more serious small cell lung cancer, targeting his right adrenal gland.
So, a day before his birthday, Adrian underwent surgery to remove an 11.5cm growth in his right adrenal gland.
He was warded for about a week in both the Intensive Care Unit and a high dependency ward.
A week after that, he went on chemotherapy for the second time, which he found “a bit more intense”.
In 2023, Adrian completed a cycle of chemotherapy with six sessions that took place monthly over half a year.
Two years later, however, he had to undergo six cycles, each comprising three sessions. This meant he completed a total of 18 sessions of chemotherapy in six months.
Adrian had started his job as a financial consultant four months prior to this, and he had to hit pause on his career and take a six-month break to focus on treatment.
“After each cycle of treatment, I just had to rest and prepare my body and mind again for the next cycle. This went on for six cycles. It was a matter of perseverance,” he said.
“The chemotherapy fortunately worked to tackle any remaining cancer cells that may have been left behind after the surgery,” he shared.
After his experience with cancer, Adrian has learned to be more appreciative of his health and not take it for granted.
“Little things that bring joy to me would be the simple things in life,” he said.
“Nowadays, I practise a lot of gratitude. So long as I can open my eyes and go through my daily life, that will be something that I’m grateful for.”
Adrian shared that something as simple as taking a walk around the park and spending time with friends and loved ones have also become important.
The experience has taught me something very valuable, which is that I cannot assume that I will be here tomorrow,” he told us.
“So, I shouldn’t be delaying things that I’ve wanted to do. I should live my life with no regrets.”
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