Gastroenterology

| Department Overview |--------------

Huashan Hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology was established in 1964. It is a National Key Clinical Specialty, the home institution of the director of the Fudan University Institute of Digestive Diseases, and the lead institution of the director of the Clinical Difficult Cases Research Department of the Huashan Hospital Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine. It holds a leading position in the field of individualized comprehensive immunotherapy for digestive system cancers, innovative diagnostic and therapeutic technologies in digestive endoscopy, and the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and rare digestive diseases. The department undertakes projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Innovative Research Group, the National Key Research and Development Program, NSFC Key Projects, and Key International Cooperation projects. It leads the Shanghai Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Oncology Drugs, the Shanghai High-Level University Innovation Strategy Team, the Institute of Immunophenomics of the Shanghai International Human Phenome Institute, and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Immune Diseases.

The department currently has 35 members, including 12 professors and associate professors, 6 supervisors of master’s and doctoral students, and a postdoctoral research station. It has 1 leader of an NSFC Innovative Research Group, 1 recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and 1 distinguished professor under the Ministry of Education’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program; 1 Young Top Talent selected by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, 1 national-level candidate in the Ministry of Personnel’s New Century Talent Project, 1 recipient of the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Support Program, and 1 recipient of the Sackler China Physician of the Year Award; 1 Shanghai Leading Talent, 1 Shanghai Outstanding Academic Leader, 2 Shanghai Rising Stars, 1 recipient of the Shanghai Yangfan Program, and 1 outstanding young medical talent selected as a Shanghai Medical Garden Rising Star.

The current academic leader and director of the department is Professor Jie Liu, leader of an NSFC Innovative Research Group, distinguished professor under the Chang Jiang Scholars Program, recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, distinguished professor of Fudan University, Shanghai Leading Talent, and Shanghai Outstanding Academic Leader. The current deputy directors and members of the department’s central working group are Liang Zhong, Yi Liu, Weiqun Ding, Xu Sun, Zhongguang Luo, and Feifei Luo.

| Distinctive Features and Subspecialties |--------------

Based on its distinctive strengths, the department has established four key subspecialties: gastrointestinal oncology, digestive endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, and fatty liver and abnormal liver function.

Gastrointestinal Oncology Subspecialty

The incidence and mortality of digestive system cancers—including esophageal, gastric, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and gallbladder cancers—remain high. Through sustained research and clinical efforts, the team has developed a comprehensive treatment system for digestive system cancers, with full attention to patients’ neuroimmunity, nutritional metabolism, intestinal microbiota, and other conditions. Several new comprehensive cancer treatment technologies are currently available: 1) immune-adaptive chemotherapy: in response to the substantial toxic and adverse effects of conventional chemotherapy and its severe damage to the immune system, the team has conducted research on immune-adaptive chemotherapy. This approach is characterized by fewer toxic and adverse effects, continuous tumor killing, and preservation of immune function, with significant clinical efficacy; 2) endoscopic cryoballoon ablation for gastric cancer (ECAT): while killing tumor cells, cryotherapy can cause tumor cells to release antigens and activate the body’s antitumor immunity. The team pioneered endoscopic cryoballoon ablation, and studies have demonstrated good safety and efficacy; some elderly patients can preserve the stomach and achieve high-quality survival.

Digestive Endoscopy Subspecialty

In addition to performing routine gastroscopy and colonoscopy, our endoscopy center also conducts magnifying endoscopic examinations and endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, as well as endoscopic ultrasound diagnosis of pancreatic and intra-abdominal tumors. Routine endoscopic treatments include: endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), endoscopic submucosal excavation (ESE), endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR), submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER), peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA), SpyGlass cholangioscopy, confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE), double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE), gastrointestinal stent placement, balloon dilation of gastrointestinal strictures, ligation and sclerotherapy for esophageal and gastric fundal varices, ligation and sclerotherapy for internal hemorrhoids, endoscopic-guided transnasal placement of a decompression tube for intestinal obstruction, nasojejunal feeding-tube placement, endoscopic hemostasis, and endoscopic removal of gastrointestinal foreign bodies.

The diagnosis and treatment of difficult small-bowel diseases is one of our department’s distinctive strengths. More than 200 small-bowel endoscopic examinations are completed each year, enabling accurate diagnosis of various difficult small-bowel diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, cryptogenic multifocal ulcerating stenosing enteritis (CMUSE), Peutz–Jeghers syndrome (P-J syndrome), primary intestinal lymphangiectasia, small-bowel amyloidosis, small-bowel lymphoma, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, hereditary telangiectasia, and primary intestinal lymphangiectasia.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Subspecialty

The team runs a specialized outpatient clinic for inflammatory bowel disease and chronic enteritis. It sees more than 3,000 visits by patients with inflammatory bowel disease each year and has extensive experience in its diagnosis and treatment. The department has established whole-course management and standardized follow-up for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, with services covering the complete treatment cycle. Specifically, services include endoscopic diagnosis and treatment (capsule endoscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy), noninvasive imaging assessment (small-bowel MR/CT imaging), drug treatment—including novel biologics, oral small-molecule drugs, and corresponding therapeutic drug-concentration monitoring—personalized adjustment of treatment plans, and systematic health education and dietary guidance. The team also conducts in-depth investigations into the pathogenesis of inflammatory small-bowel diseases and participates in multiple clinical trials, providing patients with advanced treatment options and guidance.

Fatty Liver and Abnormal Liver Function Subspecialty

The team runs a specialized outpatient clinic for fatty liver and abnormal liver function and has accumulated extensive experience, particularly in the treatment of fatty liver disease, drug-induced hepatitis, and autoimmune liver disease, as well as in etiological diagnosis of abnormal liver function. In the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, it has gradually developed a distinctive treatment approach based on coordinated regulation of the gut and liver.

The team has also established a joint obesity–fatty liver clinic with the Department of Endocrinology, and a special-service obesity multidisciplinary team (MDT) clinic with the Departments of Bariatric Surgery and Endocrinology. Noninvasive quantitative FibroTouch testing for fatty liver and fibrosis is routinely performed. Relying on the hospital’s strong platform, the team provides individualized diagnostic and treatment services for patients with fatty liver and abnormal liver function.

| Teaching |--------------

The department has a strong teaching atmosphere and has long undertaken large-group lectures, clerkship teaching, and supervision of interns in diagnostics and the digestive system component of internal medicine at the Fudan University School of Clinical Medicine. Teaching is provided to undergraduates, graduate students, residents in standardized training, visiting physicians, and others. Department members have participated in compiling professional textbooks such as Practical Internal Medicine, and have received teaching awards from Fudan University and Huashan Hospital on numerous occasions.

As an affiliated institution of the Fudan University Institute of Digestive Diseases and a master’s and doctoral degree-granting site in internal medicine at Fudan University, the department is committed to training clinician-scientists with both strong clinical capabilities and research competence. It has trained 46 master’s and doctoral students, and many have received the titles of Outstanding Graduate of Shanghai or Fudan University and Outstanding Resident Physician.

The department organizes specialized knowledge-learning sessions every month and uses online platforms such as the Huashan Digestive official account to systematically and comprehensively review and teach knowledge in the discipline, from basic principles to the frontiers of scientific research.

| Research |--------------

The department’s research focuses closely on digestive system cancers, major chronic digestive diseases, and difficult and complicated cases encountered in clinical diagnosis and treatment. It established a new noninvasive method for cancer diagnosis based on 5hmC hydroxymethylation modification; designed and developed a novel secretory BiTE-T therapy for solid tumors, overcoming bottlenecks in immune-cell therapy for solid tumors; established a bifunctional system combining biomimetic cell-membrane ginsenoside tumor-targeted drug delivery with immune activation, laying the foundation for applications for new-drug approval; developed and conducted research on endoscopic cryoballoon ablation therapy (ECAT), a low-temperature minimally invasive tumor neoantigen-release therapy for advanced gastric cancer, preserving the stomach and achieving systemic tumor-specific immune activation while extending high-quality survival; proposed and implemented a new paradigm of immune-homeostasis-based cancer treatment guided by the immune index, maintaining and enhancing antitumor immune efficacy with significant therapeutic results; and used basic research methods to conduct case studies that were included in continuing medical education (CME) textbooks. The department undertakes the NSFC Innovative Research Group, the National Key Research and Development Program, NSFC Key Projects, and Key International Cooperation projects. It has published nearly 200 papers in Cell, Cancer Cell, JCI, PNAS, Nature Clinical Practice Oncology, and The Lancet; obtained nearly 20 authorized national invention patents; and received awards including the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award, and the Shanghai Invention Award.

| Departmental Honors |--------------

Ministry of Health National Clinical Key Specialty (2012)

Chinese Medical Doctor Association “Small-Bowel Endoscopy Physician Training Center” (2017)

Shanghai Clinical Key Specialty Soaring Plan (2 projects, 2018)

Shanghai High-Level Local University Innovation Team (2019, 2021)

Shanghai Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Oncology Drugs (2019)

Institute of Immunophenomics, Shanghai International Human Phenome Institute (2020)

Fudan University Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Immune Diseases (2021)

| Social Responsibility |--------------

The department regularly organizes free clinic activities, provides free medical consultation, and popularizes health knowledge among community residents to raise public health awareness. It has established the Huashan Digestive official account, which provides science-popularization content on the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases and practical tips for everyday prevention.

Department members actively participate in medical teams and travel to remote areas such as Xinjiang to help alleviate shortages of local medical resources, demonstrating a strong sense of social responsibility.