Department of Oncology, Chemotherapy and Radiation Diseases

The Department of Oncology Chemotherapy and Radiation Sickness was established in August 1960. In its early years, the department focused on the diagnosis and treatment of radiation sickness and achieved nationally leading results. In the late 1980s, to meet the needs of social development, the department began providing medical oncology diagnosis and treatment on the basis of its work in diagnosing and treating radiation sickness. In May 1993, with approval from the university, it was renamed the Department of Oncology Chemotherapy and Radiation Sickness and has undertaken the diagnosis and treatment of medical oncology conditions and radiation-injury-related conditions ever since. It is currently the Beijing Nuclear Radiation Injury Medical Treatment and Rescue Base, Clinical Division II of the National Nuclear Radiation Injury Medical Treatment and Rescue Base, and Beijing’s first qualified institution for the medical examination of radiation workers. In 2001, the department was approved as a National Drug Clinical Research Base for the oncology specialty.

The department currently has 58 employees, including 23 physicians, 9 with senior professional titles, and 11 with intermediate professional titles. It has 1 full-time researcher; 58 inpatient beds and 30 day-ward beds; and 1 Oncology Chemotherapy and Radiation Sickness Research Laboratory. In oncology diagnosis and treatment, the department leverages the strengths of a general hospital, leading and participating in the development of an oncology MDT platform. It currently has advantageous subspecialty groups in thoracic tumors, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, while also having established specialty groups in spinal metastatic tumors, cardio-oncology, exercise rehabilitation in oncology, management of immune-related adverse reactions in oncology, and geriatric oncology. New diagnostic and treatment technologies have been developed around precision medicine and immunotherapy, such as drug-sensitivity testing and AI-based prediction of treatment efficacy using radiomics.

In teaching, the department has established an oncology mentoring team that combines clinical and basic sciences. It currently has 1 supervisor for professional master’s students, 1 jointly appointed professor, and 1 supervisor for academic master’s students. In research, over the past 5 years it has participated in 2 major special-project topics of the Ministry of Science and Technology, led 4 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and 1 project funded by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation; it has led more than 10 university/association funds.

The department will continue to conduct in-depth research on radiation-worker protection, the diagnosis and treatment of radiation sickness, nuclear emergency response, and related work, and will fulfill the role of the Nuclear Radiation Injury Medical Treatment and Rescue Base. In oncology diagnosis and treatment, it will work around the “prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and research” system and carry out individualized diagnosis and treatment on the basis of standardized diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, it will strengthen comorbidity management, enhance support for patients’ nutrition, exercise, and psychological well-being, continue to leverage the strengths of a general hospital, and better serve every patient.