Haematology

The Department of Hematology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, also known as the Harbin Medical University Institute of Hematology, is a national standardized-training base for hematology, a national observation base for new hematologic drugs, a collaborative center of the China Hematology Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment Consortium, one of the first designated hospitals for unrelated hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation designated by the China Marrow Donor Program, the chair institution of the Hematology Committee of the Heilongjiang Medical Doctor Association, the chair institution of the Hematology Committee of the Heilongjiang Medical Promotion Association, a professional department of a drug clinical trial institution, and an authorized institution for clinical medicine master's and doctoral degrees at Harbin Medical University.

The Department of Hematology was established in 1972. After more than 40 years of effort, it has developed into one of the diagnosis and treatment centers, training centers and research bases for hematologic diseases in Heilongjiang Province, integrating medical care, scientific research, teaching and health education. The department has 3 wards and an independent hematology laboratory, with 171 open beds, including 5 class-100 bone-marrow-transplant rooms, 8 high-grade rooms, a separate bone-marrow collection room, and a bone-marrow and lumbar-puncture procedure room. With comfortable conditions and a quiet environment, it has become one of the largest hematology departments in the province.

The department's representative specialty medical technologies mainly include:

(I) Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: In 1989, our department was among the first in China to explore bone-marrow transplantation technology; in 2005, it completed the first unrelated hematopoietic stem-cell transplant in Heilongjiang Province. The technology is now widely used clinically. HLA-matched sibling allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, haploidentical hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation and unrelated-donor hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation are used to treat patients with acute and chronic leukemia, severe aplastic anemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes and other malignant hematologic diseases. The long-term disease-free survival rate after transplantation has reached an internationally advanced level. Our department is also one of the first designated hospitals for unrelated hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation designated by the China Marrow Donor Program. Stem cells collected by the marrow bank are sent to many locations throughout the country, with a 100% engraftment rate.

(II) Umbilical-cord-blood hematopoietic stem-cell immunotherapy: Umbilical cord blood is one source of hematopoietic stem cells for patients with hematologic diseases who do not have an HLA-matched donor. Compared with bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood, cord blood is readily available, harmless to the donor and has less stringent HLA matching requirements for donor and recipient. T lymphocytes in human cord blood can mediate a stronger graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect through an allogeneic reaction. For some patients with acute leukemia, adding cord-blood immunotherapy during consolidation treatment can reduce relapse, prolong overall survival and prolong disease-free survival. Umbilical-cord-blood hematopoietic stem-cell immunotherapy is one of the high-technology projects being emphasized and is at a leading level in the province.

(III) The extensive use of blood-cell apheresis and plasma exchange provides strong support for hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation and for treating thrombocytosis, leukocytosis, hyperblast crisis, immune hemolytic anemia, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and other diseases.

(IV) Comprehensive treatment of multiple myeloma: The department has developed a new myeloma treatment model integrating targeted therapy, chemotherapy, integrated TCM and Western medicine and biological therapy, and conducts clinical and related basic research supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province and other grants.

(V) A comprehensive treatment model has been established for acute and chronic leukemia. In diagnosis, hematologic tumors can be diagnosed, differentially diagnosed and monitored at the cellular, protein and molecular levels. In treatment, the department has developed a series of specialty approaches including targeted therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, cellular therapy and stem-cell transplantation.

(VI) Lymphoma diagnosis and treatment are aligned with international practice. The department comprehensively uses cell morphology/cytochemistry, chromosomal karyotype analysis, molecular genetics, molecular biology and other technologies together with clinical findings for diagnosis, classification, prognostic assessment and disease monitoring, tailoring individualized treatment plans for patients. It combines chemotherapy, immunotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, radiotherapy and other comprehensive methods to treat lymphomas. In 2021, the department was named a member institution of the China Society of Clinical Oncology Anti-Lymphoma Alliance's whole-course lymphoma patient management program.

(VII) Comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of bleeding and coagulation disorders: The department is a standardized diagnosis and treatment institution in the Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment Center Development Project for primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) of the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Group of the Hematology Society of the Chinese Medical Association, and a member institution of the ITP Nurse Care Project.

(VIII) Attention to difficult and rare hematologic diseases: The department is the chair institution of the Heilongjiang Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Alliance of the Chinese Expert Alliance for Hemophagocytic Syndrome, a member institution of the China EBV-related Disease Working Group, and a standardized diagnosis and treatment center for myelofibrosis.

Over the past 10 years, the Department of Hematology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University has received support from more than 20 national and provincial/ministerial scientific research funds, published more than 150 papers in SCI and core journals, including 31 indexed by SCI, and edited or participated in writing more than 10 medical monographs. It has received more than 20 medical new-technology awards from the Provincial Health Department and applied for and obtained 9 national patents. It undertakes teaching and internship tasks at multiple levels for graduate students, seven-year-program students, undergraduates, junior-college students and international students, and holds national-, provincial- and university-level courses each year. It has published more than 10 teaching papers and received 8 provincial teaching-achievement awards.