The predecessor of Sichuan Cancer Hospital’s Department of Thoracic Cancer is the Department of Thoracic Surgery introduced when the hospital was first established in 1988. In the mid-1990s, the department experimented with bronchoplasty, pulmonary arterioplasty and colonic interposition for esophageal replacement. Beginning from the 21st century, the department became the first in Southwestern China to introduce thoracic tumor MIS, en bloc resection for esophageal cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer surgery, holistic nursing and Stage III lung cancer surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Since 2008, the hospital has invested over CN¥15 million in new medical equipment, research activities, innovation support and clinical teaching support for the Thoracic Cancer Department alone. The department has successfully carried out minimally invasive esophageal cancer radical surgery, lung cancer radical surgery, tracheoplasty and carinal plasty, superior vena caval replacement surgery, VM treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis, etc. In order to maximize the strengths of combination therapy, the department works closely with radiotherapy and medical oncology in the fields of lung tumor, esophageal tumor and mediastinal tumor. Up to now it has undertaken more than 100,000 various thoracic tumor cases.
The department was acknowledged as an important discipline in Sichuan in a 2009 assessment by Sichuan Department of Health. In 2012 it was reassessed and acknowledged as a vitally important discipline in Sichuan. In the three years, the department adopted a multi-pronged approach which centered efforts equally on medical care, clinical teaching, research and transforming. Clinically, on the one hand, it continues to pay high regard to thoracic cancer MIS. So far the department has carried out the largest number of the most professional thoracic cancer MISs in Southwestern China. Additionally, it combines specialist lectures, training sessions and advanced studies to generalize its concepts in Southwestern China. On the other hand, the department initiated MDT (Multi-discipline Treatment) for thoracic cancer in Southwestern China and instructed other hospitals on the expertise so that patients can get the best treatment. In terms of teaching, the department has become a training center for Ph.D. students, postgraduates, undergraduates, non-degree students and interns majoring in oncology. In terms of R&D, the department has also undertaken many provincial-level research projects. It is working with many cooperators to conduct thoracic cancer investigation or treatment, including CAS Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University’s Zhongshan School of Medicine Cancer Hospital, Sichuan University and UESTC, thereby becoming one of the local centers of lung cancer and esophageal cancer research. Over the past three years, the Thoracic Cancer Department is emerging as the largest and most professional of its kind in Southwestern China in terms of cancer combination therapy.
