General Research-Oriented Ward

Peking University Cancer Hospital’s Comprehensive Research Ward was established against the backdrop of the new era, under the national strategy for innovation and development of new drugs and the promotion of the development of research hospitals. The Comprehensive Research Ward was designed, planned, and built according to an entirely new concept. The ward contains multiple independent functional areas. The main area is the research patient care unit, with 28 treatment chairs and 3 treatment beds. It is planned into separate zones, operates on an appointment system, and accepts both inpatients and outpatients. The department also has a dedicated outpatient clinic for clinical trials, a quality control office, an independent examination room, a clinical-trial blood collection room, and an electrocardiography room, as well as -80°C and -20 °C refrigerators and centrifuges, providing full support for the conduct of clinical research. The Comprehensive Research Ward emphasizes medical safety and quality. It is staffed by a highly qualified full-time medical team comprising 5 full-time physicians and 19 nurses. Medical practice is standardized in accordance with national and Beijing quality-control standards. The department has established and improved relevant systems and measures for medical quality and safety management, refined the SOPs for handling emergency plans, and ensures the safety and quality of clinical research.

Since its establishment in April 2023, the Comprehensive Research Ward has admitted clinical research patients from throughout the hospital, including patients in all Phase I-III drug clinical trials (IND studies) and investigator-initiated clinical trials (IIT studies). Since its establishment in 2023, the department has managed patients strictly in accordance with clinical-trial requirements; in Year 1, patients admitted for clinical trials accounted for 49% of all clinical-trial inpatients in the hospital. In 2024, the number of clinical-trial patients admitted increased further, accounting for 66% of the hospital-wide total number of clinical-trial inpatients. In addition, the department performs blood collection and electrocardiography for clinical trials and provides clinical-trial patients with dedicated research-sample processing and storage, supporting full-process management of clinical trials. Through an information-based management system, it provides efficient, safe, and convenient services for clinical research throughout the hospital and provides strong support for building a world-class research hospital.

The Comprehensive Research Ward places great emphasis on discipline development and talent-team development. The department director, Professor Xie Yuntao, is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of familial hereditary breast cancer, has led multiple major projects and General Program projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and has published more than 60 research papers in JCO and other journals. In the 2 years since the department was established, it has made substantial progress in scientific research. In 2024, the department was approved to undertake multiple projects, including the “Parallel Project of the Beijing Research Ward Excellence Program” and the “Cultivation Program” of the Beijing Municipal Hospital Management Center, as well as multiple other projects. Based on the research ward, the department’s core personnel have collectively published multiple SCI papers; based on the department’s clinical research database, they analyze trends in the development of clinical research and support the conduct of clinical research at our hospital.

The Comprehensive Research Ward focuses not only on clinical research but also on patient education and humanistic care. Upholding the mission of creating “a place that ignites hope,” it enables patients to rekindle new hope, improves their healthcare experience, and provides driving force for the innovative development of the hospital.