Oncology Department I

Ward 1 of the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center of Guangdong Second People's Hospital is a key clinical department of the hospital. It is currently a Guangdong provincial guidance unit for malignant tumor screening, a clinical trial base for oncology drugs, a research base of the Clinical Medicine Postdoctoral Mobile Station of Sun Yat-sen University, and a demonstration unit for standardized pain-free cancer wards in Guangdong Province. It is also a unit of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, Guangdong Anti-Cancer Association, Guangzhou Anti-Cancer Association, Radiation Oncology Branch of the Guangdong Medical Association, Medical Oncology Branch of the Guangdong Medical Association, Guangdong Medical Doctor Association, Guangdong Hospital Association, and Guangdong Clinical Medical Association in which the positions of chairperson, deputy chairperson, and standing committee member are held.

Department group photo

The department has 51 authorized beds and a total of 31 medical and nursing staff members: 11 doctors and 20 nurses. Among them are 3 chief physicians, 4 associate chief physicians, 4 associate chief nurses, and 8 charge nurses; 1 member holds a doctoral degree and 4 hold master's degrees.

The department's main routine diagnostic and treatment services include: standardized medical treatment of malignant tumors, such as conventional chemotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, palliative chemotherapy, intracavitary chemotherapy, and infusion chemotherapy; radiotherapy for malignant tumors, including conventional radiotherapy, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic hypofractionated radiotherapy (photon knife), hyperfractionation, accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy, and other radiotherapy techniques; tumor immunotherapy (PD-1/PD-L1 therapy and nonspecific cellular immunotherapy); molecular targeted therapy (single-target and multitarget); and, in cooperation with the Department of Interventional Therapy, transarterial chemoembolization for liver cancer and vertebroplasty for bone metastases. The department provides standardized cancer pain treatment and has established a provincial “Demonstration Ward for Standardized Cancer Pain Treatment,” enabling patients with advanced cancer to achieve a better quality of life.

Ward 1 of the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center has an internationally advanced tumor radiotherapy system. It is one of the earlier units in China to carry out precision radiotherapy, including three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy, and stereotactic radiotherapy (photon knife). It has favorable conditions and capabilities for coordinating chemotherapy and radiotherapy, highlighting its strength in integrated radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The department was established more than 20 years ago and has treated more than 200,000 patient visits for various malignant tumors. Its clinical efficacy has reached an advanced level in China.

The main medical specialties include:

1. Tumor radiotherapy. The introduction of advanced radiotherapy equipment, represented by the PRMUS medical linear accelerator from Siemens, Germany, the VARIAN medical linear accelerator from the United States, the CMS three-dimensional treatment planning system from the United States, and the CT-Sim positioning system, enabled this center to be among the first to enter the forefront of precision radiotherapy. Most malignant tumors can be treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy (IMRT), which can ensure a sufficient radiotherapy dose to tumor tissue while providing very good protection to normal tissue. This both ensures treatment efficacy and minimizes the toxic and adverse effects of radiotherapy. For patients with advanced disease, the above radiotherapy techniques can provide good palliative treatment effects. The recently acquired MRI-guided adaptive intensity-modulated radiotherapy system can achieve biological intensity modulation on the basis of physical intensity modulation, kill tumor tissue more precisely, and better protect normal tissue, elevating advanced radiotherapy technology to a new level and realizing precision radiotherapy for malignant tumors.

2. Comprehensive treatment involving tumor chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and other modalities. The department's doctors attach importance to comprehensive treatment for tumor patients. With a scientific and rigorous working style, they strictly follow international clinical guidelines and domestic diagnostic and treatment standards and use advanced detection and examination technologies to identify patients' sensitivity to specific chemotherapy drugs, locate targets for targeted drugs, and assess the expression of the immune checkpoints PD1/PDL-1. On the basis of standardization and professional practice, they formulate individualized and precise treatment plans. The department has developed systematic and comprehensive treatment plans based on chemotherapy, with targeted therapy and immunotherapy for maintenance and traditional Chinese medicine and nutritional support as adjuncts. These have significantly improved treatment outcomes for tumor patients, and both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) have been effectively prolonged. At the same time, the department continuously summarizes and promotes its experience in a timely manner, improving the survival rate and quality of survival of patients with malignant tumors, raising doctors' professional technical level and comprehensive treatment capabilities, and enhancing the department's brand effect, thereby achieving good social benefits.

3. Standardized cancer pain treatment. In patients with advanced tumors, cancer pain is unavoidable and seriously affects quality of life and treatment outcomes. The department has appointed pain specialists, who are senior medical and nursing staff. In accordance with the latest NCCN guidelines for cancer pain diagnosis and treatment and domestic standards for cancer pain and palliative care, and guided by the principles of the three-step cancer pain treatment approach, the department promptly titrates medication according to patients' pain scores (NRS scores) and scientifically determines individualized, human-centered treatment doses. This effectively relieves patients' pain, improves their quality of life, and prolongs survival. In 2012, the department was among the first in Guangdong Province to receive designation as a standardized pain-free cancer ward.

4. Malnutrition in patients with malignant tumors: 1. It directly affects the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy; 2. it increases the incidence and mortality of postoperative complications; 3. it increases the incidence of adverse effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy; 4. malnutrition reduces patients' tolerance to antitumor treatment, prolongs hospitalization, lowers quality of life, and may even shorten survival. In 2021, our department passed the review and established an oncology nutrition ward. Through standardized nutritional support treatment, patients' nutritional status improved significantly and treatment efficacy increased markedly.

5. Patients with malignant tumors who develop brain metastases, intestinal obstruction, or water-electrolyte disorders, or who receive antitumor treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or molecular targeted therapy, as well as patients receiving cancer pain medication, may develop nausea and vomiting. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting, CINV) is the most common adverse reaction to chemotherapy. It can easily cause metabolic disorders, nutritional imbalance, and weight loss, and can have significant negative effects on patients' emotional, social, and physical functioning. It is also one of the important reasons why patients become fearful of chemotherapy and experience reduced quality of life and reduced adherence. To better control CTNV, our department passed the review in 2022 and established a vomiting-free ward, providing support for improving patients' treatment adherence and treatment efficacy.

6. Health education. Every month, the department regularly holds health education lectures for tumor patients. The department director and head nurse teach the lectures in person, and senior doctors and nurses actively participate. Patients receive multidimensional, in-depth, systematic, and professional education covering the treatment and care of diseases of each body system, cancer pain treatment and care, nutritional support, and patients' psychological well-being. The department also established the “Light of Love” Patient Club and uses high-technology methods such as the internet, WeChat, and text messages to conduct health education activities regularly both online and offline. This has improved patients' understanding of their diseases, strengthened their confidence in fighting cancer, and increased their adherence to treatment.

7. In 2022, the department passed the review and was approved as a clinical trial base for oncology drugs (GCP).

8. Psychological counseling and humanistic care. In response to the long treatment cycles, high treatment costs, and heavy psychological pressure faced by tumor patients, the department's head nurse established a specialized psychological counseling group. Full-time nurses formulate different psychological treatment strategies according to differences in patients' age, sex, and social background, before, during, and after treatment and during the period at home. These strategies help eliminate patients' fear of cancer, enable them to face the disease correctly, and encourage active cooperation with treatment, thereby improving the effectiveness of comprehensive treatment for tumor patients.

Innovating and building a platform: Through the hospital's Social Work Department, volunteers are invited into the department and wards to conduct activities such as free haircuts, handmade paper-cutting DIY, collective birthday celebrations for patients, distribution of blessing bags during the Spring Festival, and delivery of mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, allowing patients to feel the warmth of a family. A WeChat platform for the “Light of Love” Patient Club was established, connecting the hearts of more than 500 people. It answers questions from patients and their families around the clock and provides social and psychological support services for patients and their families. Through charitable organizations such as QingSongChou and ShuiDiChou, the department helps provide financial assistance to patients in poverty, achieving good social benefits.

In addition to clinical diagnosis and treatment, Ward 1 of the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center also has strong research and academic capabilities. Department members undertake projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and other sources. The department follows a development model that combines clinical practice, scientific research, and teaching: using teaching to promote research, using research to guide teaching, advancing on multiple tracks, and keeping pace with the times.