Minimally Invasive Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center

The Comprehensive Minimally Invasive Oncology Treatment Center of the Civil Aviation Campus of Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital is a key specialty integrating malignant tumour screening, precision diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment. Closely aligned with the frontiers of modern oncology, the center upholds the core diagnostic and treatment philosophy of minimally invasive radical cure, rapid recovery, pain-free throughout and one-stop service, and has deep experience in 4K endoscopic minimally invasive resection, conversion therapy, combined targeted and immunotherapy, regional vascular intervention and minimally invasive ablation for lung cancer, oesophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer and hepatobiliary and pancreatic malignancies. Led by senior national oncology experts, the department is committed to combining superb medical skill with warm humanistic care; each year it completes nearly 10,000 diagnoses of malignant tumours and more than 5,000 related procedures, clarifying the direction of treatment for a large number of patients. It provides every patient with a tailor-made individualized treatment plan, rekindling new hope for life.

I. Specialty features Specialty areas — specific diagnostic and therapeutic advantages The core of the specialty is minimally invasive radical cure, precision pain control and rapid recovery (ERAS) for solid tumours of the chest, abdomen, neck and breast. It focuses on the multidisciplinary (MDT) conversion treatment model, enabling many patients with intermediate and advanced malignant tumours who had lost the opportunity for surgery to shrink their tumours and achieve downstaging, and then undergo minimally invasive radical surgery.

Authoritative expert team. The discipline team is strong, with a well-structured talent echelon. The department currently has 1 master's supervisor, 4 chief physicians, and 7 high-ranking experts and key members with master's or doctoral degrees. Every expert has worked for many years in oncological surgery or comprehensive oncological internal medicine and has extremely rich clinical experience.

Advanced equipment. The department is equipped with a full set of leading, highly sophisticated minimally invasive devices, including 4K ultra-high-definition laparoscopes, 4K fluorescence-navigated imaging laparoscopes, high-definition thoracoscopes imported from Germany, electronic choledochoscopes and precision intensive care equipment. The department has 50 authorized beds (including 3 high-standard intensive care beds), and its hardware and software are among the regional leaders.

Treatment model. A nationally leading closed loop of one-stop comprehensive tumour management. Breaking through the traditional limits of registration and departmental boundaries, the center integrates surgical minimally invasive resection, refined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted and immunotherapy, vascular interventional embolization, and even postoperative pain control and high-level nutritional support, so that patients truly receive care without leaving the specialty area.

Research strength. The department combines clinical practice and research in depth, focusing on frontier exploration in the improvement of minimally invasive surgery, conversion therapy of intermediate and advanced tumours, molecular target sensitivity and resistance mechanisms. It has led and participated in a number of provincial and municipal research projects and published dozens of high-level papers in core journals at home and abroad and in SCI journals.

II. Scope of diagnosis and treatment The center provides precision diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and comprehensive non-surgical treatment for common and difficult solid tumours of all body systems. The specific scope is as follows: ● Abdominal solid tumours: gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer and biliary malignancies, pancreatic cancer, retroperitoneal tumours, benign and malignant tumours of the duodenum and small intestine, etc.; ● Thoracic solid tumours: early and intermediate-advanced lung cancer, oesophageal cancer, mediastinal teratoma and thymoma, benign and malignant tumours of the chest wall, etc.; ● Breast and thyroid tumours: breast cancer, breast fibroadenoma and complex masses, thyroid cancer, thyroid nodules, parathyroid adenoma, etc.; ● Advanced complex and metastatic tumours: for elderly patients or those with multiple comorbidities who cannot tolerate conventional major surgery, and for advanced cases with multiple distant metastases (such as liver or peritoneal metastases), the center provides precision interventional targeting, multidisciplinary systemic treatment planning, local pain-free palliative minimally invasive treatment and full-course management.

III. Featured techniques and Q&A (1) Featured minimally invasive and comprehensive treatment techniques 1. 4K ultra-high-definition fluorescence-navigated minimally invasive resection: by introducing a fluorescent tracer (such as indocyanine green) in real time during surgery, occult tumour margins, lymphatic vessels and sentinel lymph nodes that are otherwise difficult to identify with the naked eye light up with fluorescence under the 4K fluorescence laparoscope, forming a clear living map for the operation. This enables the surgeon, as if using GPS, to precisely avoid fine blood vessels and nerves, completely clear the lymph nodes, and significantly reduce the rates of postoperative bleeding and recurrence. 2. Multidisciplinary (MDT) conversion therapy for intermediate and advanced malignant tumours: for cases initially judged inoperable because of invasion of major vessels or multiple organ metastases, the center, through multidisciplinary consultation, tailors an efficient conversion regimen of minimally invasive vascular perfusion or embolization intervention plus a new generation of combined immunotherapy and targeted drugs. Under the double attack of drugs and local treatment, the lesions shrink rapidly and their margins are reshaped, turning the former surgical forbidden zone into a minimally invasive resectable area and achieving the miracle of prolonged survival.

(2) Frequently asked questions (Q&A) Q1: Compared with traditional open surgery, what is the most critical advantage of minimally invasive tumour treatment, such as endoscopic surgery? A1: Traditional major surgery requires an incision of more than ten centimetres on the chest or abdomen, cutting through muscles, with great trauma and severe postoperative wound pain. Minimally invasive surgery, such as laparoscopy and thoracoscopy, requires only several tiny holes of a few millimetres on the body surface. Under the 4K ultra-high-definition monitor, the lesion is magnified more than ten times, and the surgeon's dissection can reach millimetre-level precision. The core advantages are: first, minimal trauma and very low blood loss; second, slight pain, and with the enhanced recovery (ERAS) pathway most patients can get out of bed and eat on their own on the first postoperative day; third, effective avoidance of lower-limb venous thrombosis and severe pulmonary infection caused by prolonged bed rest, which is an important guarantee of safe surgery for frail and elderly patients. Q2: If I am already at an intermediate or advanced stage, or even have multiple metastases, when diagnosed at another hospital, is there still hope here? A2: Please never give up. The center has experienced conversion therapy and minimally invasive intervention experts who specialize in such complex cases. By combining a new generation of immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy with highly selective local tumour interventional embolization, we have successfully helped many patients with huge colorectal cancer liver metastases or intermediate and advanced lung cancer assessed as unresectable elsewhere to achieve lesion shrinkage and clear margins, followed by a second minimally invasive radical operation. Even when surgery is truly impossible, we have a full set of mature approaches of minimally invasive vascular treatment plus precision pain management to control tumour progression, eliminate cancer pain to the greatest extent and improve nutrition, so that patients can live comfortably with the tumour in the long term. Q3: What convenience does the one-stop comprehensive diagnosis and treatment offered by the center bring to patients' families? A3: Traditional cancer treatment requires families and patients to run back and forth between surgical outpatient clinics, medical outpatient clinics, chemotherapy areas, pain clinics, nutrition departments and other buildings and areas, queuing and registering repeatedly, which not only consumes enormous time and energy but also easily disconnects the treatment plan. Our one-stop closed-loop service means that once a patient is admitted to our center, whether it is the initial surgery, the intermediate intervention and chemoradiotherapy, or the postoperative targeted and immunotherapy maintenance, analgesic treatment and correction of severe malnutrition, all are carried out and managed throughout by the same high-level multidisciplinary expert team. Families only need to devote all their attention to the patient's psychological support; all remaining cross-departmental treatment coordination is efficiently completed by our medical team and specialist nurses, making treatment more economical, time-saving and worry-free.