Brief Introduction of Breast Cancer Sub-specialty

Nowadays, breast cancer has become the most common cancer worldwide, as people are affected by many factors such as improved living standards, western pattern diet, accelerated pace of life, increased work pressure, advanced genetic testing technology, and accelerated aging process. For the treatment of breast cancer, the sub-specialty highlights the importance of multidisciplinary treatment, comprising preoperative treatment (neoadjuvant chemotherapy), surgical resection, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and palliative care. The final comprehensive treatment plan will be worked out after regular multidisciplinary meetings and discussions participated by multiple departments (including the Division of Breast Surgery, Department of Medical Imaging, Division of Anatomical Pathology and Oncology Center). Appropriate medical personnel provide suitable individualized treatment for target patients at the right time. This is in the best interest of patients.

Services Available (excluding surgical procedures):

1.Provide standard drug therapy for breast cancer based on evidence-based medical evidence, including neoadjuvant chemotherapy/targeted therapy/immunotherapy, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy/targeted therapy/immunotherapy, palliative chemotherapy/targeted therapy/immunotherapy for metastases. The sub-specialty has a complete set of drugs. If any required drugs are not on the hospital drug list, they will be purchased on an ad hoc basis to meet the patient's individual needs;

2.At present, the sub-specialty is equipped with two advanced radiotherapy machines to provide breast cancer radiotherapy, including radical breast radiotherapy (IMRT, VMAT, respiratory gating and other techniques), palliative radiotherapy for metastases (WBRT or SRT for brain metastases; emergency radiotherapy for spinal cord compression; radiotherapy for bone metastases to relieve pain). Following internationally recognized quality control standards, the accuracy of radiation field and dose is ensured and the safely tolerated dose of normal organs is guaranteed through closed-loop management, with two people signing for confirmation.

3.As a clinical research base for drugs and devices, the Center actively conducts and participates in international and domestic multi-center clinical studies for new drug research and development, enabling early access to new drugs and accumulating new drug R&D experience. An international multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled study on early triple-negative breast cancer is currently ongoing.

4.Since the Center has been approved for the use of eligible drugs and medical devices imported from Hong Kong or Macao in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the PI3KCA inhibitor Alpelisib has been used in advanced HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer patients with PIK3CA mutations.

5.As a hospice care practice base, the Center provides hospice care and grief counseling for terminally ill patients and their families, so that each patient with advanced cancer may leave with dignity and as comfortably as possible, and their families can get out of sadness as soon as possible without any regrets.

Diagnosis & Treatment Mode:

The sub-specialty sets up a diagnosis & treatment team. The team members include Prof. H.F. LEE (HKU), Honorary Professor Victor C.C.HSUE and Amy Chang. They are all well-known experts in the field of breast cancer. With rich clinical experience, they have given speeches many times at international conferences, presided over a number of studies and published many SCI papers. The Center ensures that senior physicians are involved in the treatment resolution of each patient's first visit.

Visiting Experts (Routine):

Physicians engaged in breast cancer specialty for more than ten years: Associate Consultant Haiman JING (Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and Senior Physician Fang Chen (Monday to Friday).

Brief Introduction of Genitourinary Oncology Sub-specialty

The division of Genitourinary Oncology is a comprehensive department integrating the treatment of urinary system tumors, gynecological tumors and retroperitoneal tumors. The division is divided into 2 separate clinical sub-specialties, Urologic Oncology Sub-specialty and Gynecological Oncology Sub-specialty.

The division is currently the only genitourinary oncology specialty in Shenzhen, with 25 beds. The Urologic Oncology Sub-specialty mainly treats urogenital cancers such as prostate cancer, renal cancer, bladder and ureteral cancer, adrenal cancer, testicular cancer, penile cancer and retroperitoneal cancer. It provides comprehensive treatment, comprising radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy excluding surgical treatment. For patients with advanced diseases, it offers professional palliative care to relieve their pain and help their families get through difficult times.

Now, a multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting on urinary oncology in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is co-organized by the division and Prof. Zhenquan Lu's urinary oncology team (HKU-SZH), together with Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenzhen Center. The meeting aims to conduct regular business exchanges on a monthly basis, work together to solve intractable urinary tumor cases, carry out a number of multi-center randomized controlled clinical trials and explore better treatments for urinary tumors.

Brief Introduction of Gynecological Oncology Sub-specialty

The Gynecological Oncology Sub-specialty treats gynecological cancer, mainly cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer and trophoblastic cancer. It provides radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy excluding surgical treatment. For patients with advanced diseases, the sub-specialty offers professional palliative care to relieve their pain, and a multidisciplinary team is set up to deal with their multi-system/ organ dysfunction, expecting to extend the survival time of patients with gynecological cancer and improve their quality of life.

A regular MDT meeting is co-organized by the division and Prof. Li Zhang's team (Division of Gynecological Oncology, HKU), together with Prof. Hextan NGAN's team (HKU-Queen Mary Hospital). Prof. Hextan NGAN was the Chairman of the Gynecological Oncology Committee of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) (2000-2006) and the Chairman of the Asia-Oceania Research Organisation in Genital Infection and Neoplasia (AOGIN) (2010-2012). She is renowned worldwide for her outstanding contributions to the field of gynecological oncology.

Prof. Weitang Wu (HKU-Queen Mary Hospital) and Prof. H.F. LEE take charge of the division, both of whom are consultants at HKU and have been exploring the field of genitourinary oncology for many years with rich clinical experience. Co-chief Physician Yong Jiang, MD, is responsible for ward management. He is a clinical visiting scholar at HKU-Queen Mary Hospital.

At present, the division is equipped with 3 linear accelerators (including a TOMO) to provide a full range of radiotherapy required for the treatment of genitourinary tumors, including radical radiotherapy (IMRT, VMAT, respiratory gating and other techniques) and palliative radiotherapy for metastases (WBRT, SBRT and SRS). The division was the first to carry out afterloading therapy for gynecological tumors under general anesthesia in China, and provides implantation therapy that greatly alleviated the pain of patients, improved the treatment accuracy, and achieved a good therapeutic effect. The division currently has an annual average of 1500 outpatient visits, and treats more than 250 patients with various tumors.