Oncology

1. General information: The Department of Oncology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Suzhou Jiulong Hospital is a specialized discipline integrating medical care, teaching, and research and providing comprehensive oncology diagnosis and treatment. In 2013, it was designated as a “National Drug Clinical Trial Institution (Oncology Specialty)”; in 2014, it was designated as a “Key Clinical Specialty of Suzhou City”; it also became a “standing council-member institution of the Jiangsu Association of Biotechnology”; in 2015, it was designated as a “Key Medical Discipline of Suzhou City”; in 2016, it established the China–US International Oncology Consultation Center; in December 2017, it received the “Second Prize of the Suzhou Science and Technology Progress Award” issued by the Suzhou Municipal Government and was included among the first batch of “Jiangsu Province Standardized Cancer Pain Treatment Wards”; in 2018, it was designated as a standing member institution of the Evidence-Based Medicine Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; in 2019, it was recommended as the chairing institution of the China–US Oncology Association. 2. Bed capacity: The department currently has two wards and 80 beds, including four Class 100 laminar-flow beds. Over the past three years, the department’s cumulative outpatient volume has approached 50,000 visits, and the number of inpatients has approached 10,000. 3. Personnel team: There are currently 31 medical and nursing personnel, including 13 doctors: 1 chief physician, 4 associate chief physicians, and 8 attending physicians. There are 18 nursing personnel, including 1 associate chief nurse and 6 nurses-in-charge. 4. Equipment: The department is equipped with the Mida NRL-003 radiofrequency hyperthermia system, the Mida RHL-2000A thermochemotherapy perfusion machine, a vascular ultrasound machine, a radiofrequency ablation system, a microwave ablation system, and a photodynamic therapy system. 5. Clinical features: (1) Molecular targeted therapy. At the cellular molecular level, tumor molecular targeted therapy involves designing corresponding therapeutic drugs against clearly identified oncogenic targets. After entering the body, the drugs specifically select the oncogenic targets, causing tumor cells to die selectively without affecting normal tissue cells. (2) Deep tumor hyperthermia. This is a treatment method that uses physical techniques to heat tumors to a temperature capable of killing cancer cells (41-45 °C) and maintain that temperature for a certain period, thereby shrinking or eliminating the tumor without damaging normal tissues. (3) Radiofrequency/microwave tumor ablation therapy. Under ultrasound- or CT-guided localization, tumor radiofrequency/microwave ablation uses high-frequency electromagnetic waves to induce high-frequency oscillation of ions within the tumor; the resulting mutual friction generates heat, and at 70-100°C, the cells undergo irreversible coagulative necrosis. No surgery is required; trauma is minimal and complications are few. (4) Particle implantation therapy. Also known as the internal gamma knife, its advantage over conventional radiotherapy is that tumor brachytherapy has fewer complications and causes less trauma. Indications: 1. Primary tumors that cannot be operated on, or for which the patient does not wish to undergo surgery or is unsuitable for surgery; 2. Incomplete tumor surgery, with implantation during surgery; 3. Metastatic tumors unsuitable for surgery; 4. Pain caused by metastatic or primary tumors; 5. When external-beam radiotherapy is ineffective or the dose is insufficient, as a supplement to the local dose. (5) Hyperthermic intraperitoneal circulation perfusion therapy for malignant pleural effusion and ascites. Thermal energy directly kills tumor cells, increases the local drug concentration, enhances thermochemosensitization, increases drug penetration into cancer cells, and mechanically flushes cancer cells from the peritoneum and pleura without damaging normal tissues, thereby reducing systemic toxic side effects. It can treat ascites and pleural effusion, prolong overall survival, and improve quality of life. Indications include malignant ascites and pleural effusion caused by various tumors, including lung cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, cervical cancer, and mesothelioma. (6) Percutaneous minimally invasive needle biopsy. For masses in all parts of the body that cannot be diagnosed by conventional methods, particularly pulmonary, abdominal, hepatic, and renal masses, nodular lesions, and space-occupying lesions of the mediastinum and pulmonary hilum, this procedure can produce relatively satisfactory results. 6. Research and teaching: In recent years, the department has undertaken nearly 20 research projects, including subprojects of major projects under the National “973” Program, National Natural Science Foundation projects, Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, international cooperation projects, Ministry of Health projects, and oncology projects of the Jiangsu Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, the Suzhou Science and Technology Bureau, and the Suzhou Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. Research development funding has exceeded RMB 10 million. More than 80 papers have been published in recent years, including 30 SCI papers; 2 papers were selected for poster presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference and the European Society for Medical Oncology congress. The department has successively trained 10 doctoral students and 5 master’s students; it has received the Suzhou Science and Technology Progress Award, the Suzhou Excellent Paper Award, and the Suzhou Medical Association Science and Technology Progress Award, all issued by the Suzhou Municipal Government or relevant institutions. At present, the Department of Oncology and Hematology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Suzhou Jiulong Hospital has begun training medical undergraduates and master’s/doctoral graduate students.