Thoracic Oncology Department 2

Department 2 of Thoracic Oncology is a comprehensive thoracic oncology department integrating chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and biological immunotherapy. The department is a National Key Specialty in Oncology; a Key Specialty in Oncology of Liaoning Province and Dalian City; a municipal demonstration center for standardized diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in Liaoning Province of the Lung Cancer Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Education Association; the Dalian Oncology Diagnosis and Treatment Center; and the Integrated Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Dalian Medical University. The department’s current core medical team consists of seven young and middle-aged clinical professionals with extensive experience, including three chief physicians and four attending physicians. Four hold doctoral degrees, three hold master’s degrees, and three are master’s supervisors. They undertake standardized, individualized, and precision clinical diagnosis and treatment of thoracic tumors, as well as teaching and research. The department also has a young, energetic, and highly skilled nursing team. During the nationwide fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, personnel were dispatched several times to Wuhan, the Liaoning Provincial COVID-19 Treatment Center, and other front-line locations. The team received the Advanced Ward Award for High-Quality Nursing Services in Dalian for 2015–2016. Through a series of extended nursing services, including department manuals, a WeChat platform, and telephone follow-up for patients with pain, the nursing team has provided an effective communication platform for patients’ treatment, rehabilitation, and care.

The department admits more than 4,000 patient visits annually. Over the years, it has accumulated extensive experience in first-line, second-line, and third-line lung cancer treatment. It has widely implemented genetic testing of lung cancer tissue and blood, as well as testing for immune biomarkers, thereby providing precision molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and standardized multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment for lung cancer and accumulating extensive clinical experience. Relying on the Liaoning Provincial Center for Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, the department focuses on the comprehensive prevention and treatment of lung cancer. It conducts epidemiological research on the etiology and prognosis of lung cancer, as well as studies on the correlations between molecular biomarkers and treatment efficacy, gradually achieving effective translation of basic research into clinical medicine. As the only Early Diagnosis Center for Small Pulmonary Nodules of the China Lung Cancer Alliance in Northeast China, it routinely conducts weekly MDT consultations for small pulmonary nodules, providing the public with opportunities for early diagnosis and treatment of thoracic tumors. It also conducts weekly MDT consultations for lung cancer patients and monthly online MDT consultations within Liaoning Province, providing lung cancer patients with one-stop, whole-course management. As a national clinical pharmacology base, the department keeps pace with therapeutic advances in oncology and has participated in numerous international and domestic clinical trials of new drugs, providing thoracic oncology patients with more opportunities for priority access to international new drugs. As a member of the CTONG Northeast Lung Cancer Alliance, it actively participates in lung cancer clinical research in the three northeastern provinces. After years of accumulation and effort, its level of thoracic oncology diagnosis and treatment is leading in Dalian, among the advanced in Liaoning Province, and highly regarded both within and outside the province.

In addition to routine inpatient chemotherapy, the department was the first in Dalian to conduct outpatient day-scheduled chemotherapy. On the basis of routine diagnosis and treatment, it emphasizes the development of distinctive new technologies and was the first in Dalian to perform deep microwave therapy for lung cancer, greatly improving the efficacy of chemotherapy. CT-guided biopsy of primary or metastatic lung cancer lesions, ultrasound-guided lesion biopsy, radiofrequency ablation for lung cancer, puncture catheter drainage of pleural or other body-cavity effusions in lung cancer, and intraluminal perfusion chemotherapy for body-cavity effusions also provide patients with more and better diagnostic and treatment options. As a demonstration ward for standardized pain management, the department provides standardized treatment and nursing for cancer pain, alleviating patients’ pain and improving their quality of life. It also performs ultrasound-guided PICC placement to ensure the smooth completion of treatment. As a national clinical pharmacology base, the department keeps pace with therapeutic advances in oncology and has participated in numerous international and domestic clinical trials of new drugs, providing thoracic oncology patients with more opportunities for priority access to international new drugs. Alongside its clinical work, it undertakes undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Department personnel continuously conduct scientific research. At present, one project has been awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China Young Scientists Fund; nearly ten national-level horizontal projects are being led; research funding exceeds one million yuan; published SCI articles have a cumulative impact factor of more than 50; the department has received one Third Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Liaoning Province, one First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Dalian, one First Prize and one Third Prize for Natural Sciences of Liaoning Province, and two First Prizes for Natural Sciences of Dalian. Its personnel hold positions in multiple international, national, provincial, and municipal academic organizations, have served as chief editors of four national-level textbooks and monographs, and maintain an academic level that is at the forefront nationally.

As a thoracic oncology subspecialty, the department adheres to the concept of turning lung cancer into a chronic disease. It is committed not only to standardized diagnosis and treatment and scientific research, but also to addressing the knowledge and emotional needs of patients with lung cancer. It provides patients and families with comprehensive care and assistance through patient education, nutritional care, exercise rehabilitation, and psychological peer support, helping them build confidence in fighting the disease and thereby improving quality of survival. Using various online platforms and publicity media, such as the synchronized live-streaming platform of the Chinese Medical Education Association Lung Cancer Professional Committee’s “Beidou Feisheng” Sina website and the Tencent Meeting platform, as well as online and offline free clinics, it promotes public education about lung cancer, enables more people to understand basic lung cancer knowledge, advances the prevention and treatment of lung cancer to an earlier stage, and truly achieves early diagnosis and early treatment of thoracic tumors.

With the support and impetus of the entire hospital, all medical staff of Department 2 of Thoracic Oncology will seize the opportunity, strive forward, innovate, and work vigorously to write a new chapter in the department’s high-quality development.