Oncology Discipline Cluster

Founded in 1982, the Department of Oncology at the First Affiliated Hospital of University of South China is one of the earliest cancer preventiontreatment centers in Hunan Provincethe first institution in the province authorized to grant a master’s degree in clinical oncology. After more than 40 years of development, it is now a national key clinical specialty (Cultivation program), a national pilot unit for standardized diagnosistreatment quality control of cervical cancer, a national demonstration center for standardized interventional treatment of liver cancer, a national trainingeducation center for minimally invasive tumor intervention technologies under the National Health Commission,home to multiple national demonstration wardsplatforms, including: national standardized demonstration ward for cancer pain management, national standardized management ward for chemotherapy-induced nauseavomiting (CINV), national pilot hospital for multidisciplinary diagnosistreatment (MDT) of digestive system tumors, national colorectal cancer screening base, Hunan Gastric Cancer Research CenterHunan Provincial Clinical Key Specialty.

The department holds major roles in numerous nationalprovincial academic organizations. These roles include: Vice Chair Unit, Primary Cancer PreventionControl Committee, Primary Health Care Foundation of China; Standing Committee Member, Translational Medicine Branch, Chinese Research Hospital Association; Vice Chair Unit, Radiation Oncology Committee, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Thoracic Oncology Subcommittee, Oncology Branch, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Radiation Oncology Committee, Hunan Anti-Cancer Association; Vice Chair Unit, Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Committee, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Precision Radiotherapy Committee, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Lymphoma Committee, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Tumor Metastasis Committee, Hunan Medical Association; Vice Chair Unit, Precision RadiotherapyAI Committee, Hunan Health Promotion Association; Vice Chair Unit, Urogenital Oncology Committee, Hunan Geriatrics Society; Vice Chair Unit, HeadNeck Oncology Committee, Hunan Women Physicians Association; Vice Chair Unit, Radiation Protection Management Committee, Hunan Health Management Association; Vice Chair Unit, MDT Committee for Oncology, Hunan Health Service Industry Association; Standing Committee Member Units for multiple oncology specialties, including tumor ablation, radiation immunotherapy, gastrointestinal oncology, tumor immunotherapytargeted therapy,interventional medicine; Chair Units, Hengyang Oncology Radiation TherapyMedical Oncology Committees.

2. Disciplinary Structure

The Oncology Center consists of over 250 beds across four specialized wards: headpelvic tumors, thoracic tumors, abdominal tumors (including interventional therapy)breastlymphoma. It is equipped with comprehensive facilities, including two treatment planning rooms, two linear accelerator therapy suites, one CT simulation suite,one brachytherapy suite. The center houses advanced radiotherapy equipment such as: uRT-linac 506C high-end linear accelerator, Varian Clinac ix linear accelerator, Eclipse 10.0 radiotherapy planning system, WD-HDR18 remote afterloading brachytherapy system (the only one in Hengyang), TOSHIBA LX-40A simulator, GE RT-590 large-aperture CT, CMS XIO inverse planning system,a full suite of domestic top-tier QA/QC equipment for radiotherapy.

3. Disciplinary Team

The department has over 30 physicians, including 15 chiefassociate chief physicians, seven postgraduate advisors (PhD/Master’s), 14 PhDs,two postdoctoral researchers. The nursingtechnical staff exceeds 80 people, including five with senior titles, one PhD,10 with master’s degrees. The department has established a well-structured talent pipeline with balanced age, education,professional rank, forming a strongspecialized oncology treatment team.

4. Disciplinary Specialties

The department is a provincial leader in implementing advanced technologies such as: 3D intracavitary brachytherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT)adaptive radiotherapy (ART). It is also a provincial leader in tumor biopsy, TACE for liver cancer, pulmonary artery chemoembolization, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, biological therapy, standardized chemotherapy, late-line therapy, intraluminal perfusion chemotherapy,PICC placement. Routine advanced procedures include radioactive seed implantation, radiofrequency ablation,infusion port implantation. Leveraging the university’s strength in nuclear medicine, the department has become one of the largestmost comprehensive oncology centers in southern Hunan, integrating clinical care, research,education.

5. Research & Education

The department actively participates in oncology-related clinical research, having engaged in over 50 clinical trialsundertaken five national-level projects (including NSFC)over 20 provincial-level grants. More than 100 academic papers have been published, with over 40 SCI-indexed articles as firstcorresponding author, the highest impact factor reaching 41.44.

The department provides training for undergraduate, master’s,doctoral students, undertaking teaching responsibilities in clinical medicine, imaging, nuclear engineering,biomedical engineering at the University of South China. It also serves as a training site for oncologyradiation oncology residents.

Department of BreastThyroid Surgery

1. Disciplinary Overview

Established as an independent department in 2015, the Department of BreastThyroid Surgery evolved from the General Surgical Oncology Unit. Since its founding, the department has specialized in comprehensive, precise,individualized diagnosistreatment of breastthyroid disorders, becoming one of the top-ranked institutions in Hunan Province in both technical expertisebrand reputation.

The department currently has 13 physicians, including five with senior titles, 8 with PhDs,3 postgraduate supervisors. It operates with 62 authorized beds, managing nearly 60,000 outpatient visitsover 4,000 admissions annually. More than 5,000 surgeries for breastthyroid tumors are performed each year. The department is an integral part of the hospital’s National Key Clinical Specialty (Oncology Center), a Hunan Provincial Key Specialty,a designated specialty of the provincial health authority. It serves as a member of the Hunan Provincial Breast Cancer MDT Alliance, Vice Chair Unit of the Hunan Breast Cancer Specialty Alliance,Chair Unit of the Hengyang Anti-Cancer Association’s BreastThyroid Cancer Committee. It is also a certified national clinical drug trial site. Specialized outpatient clinics include breast tumors, thyroidparathyroid disorders, lymphedema,a minimally invasive surgery suite.

2. Clinical Features

The department emphasizes standardized, individualized, precise,minimally invasive treatment guided by multidisciplinary teamwork (MDT). Treatment strategies are tailored to tumor characteristicscombine surgery with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, psychological care,biological therapy—aiming to minimize physicalemotional trauma, optimize treatment outcomes, reduce scarring, preserve aesthetics,promote full physicalpsychological recovery.

3.Major Clinical Scope:

(1) Breast Diseases:

1) Early detection using advanced ultrasound, mammography, MRI, contrast-enhanced ultrasound, sentinel lymph node detection,biopsy tools to screen for early-stageoccult breast cancer.

2) Minimally invasive procedures: ultrasound-guided vacuum-assisted excision of benign tumors, breast-conserving surgery, endoscopic mastectomyaxillary dissection,male gynecomastia correction.

3) Breast reconstruction: immediate reconstruction after mastectomy using pedicled TRAM flaps, latissimus dorsi flaps, implants,combinations thereof. Immediate repair post-radical surgery is also available. Endoscopic breast-conservingsimultaneous implant reconstruction significantly reduce scarring, improve appearance,enhance postoperative quality of life.

4) Management of benign conditions: hyperplasia, non-lactational mastitis, nipple discharge, etc.

(2) ThyroidParathyroid Diseases:

1) Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC)molecular testing for thyroid tumors provide pathological evidence for preoperative diagnosis, offering precise sampling, safety, minimal invasiveness,rapid results.

2) Total thyroidectomyradical neck lymph node dissection, as well as resection of large retrosternal thyroid tumors, can be performed with advanced intraoperative techniques such as continuous recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring, negative parathyroid imaging for protection,lymph node tracing. These technologies ensure safetyprecision in high-risk thyroid surgeries.

3) Endoscopic/Leonardo’s robotic minimally invasive surgery can be performed for benignmalignant thyroid tumors, including transoral vestibular, transaxillary,anterior chest approaches for total thyroidectomyextended radical thyroidectomy (with lateral neck lymph node dissection when metastatic lymph nodes are present). This allows patients to achieve complete tumor removal while avoiding neck scarspreserving aesthetics.

4) Microwave ablation of thyroid nodules: ultra-minimally invasive, needle-sized entry, local anesthesia, scar-free, fast recovery, preserves thyroid function, no long-term medication.

5) Surgical management of primary/secondary hyperparathyroidism, including total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantationtumor resection.

4. Research & Education

In recent years, the department has led over 10 provincialministerial-level research projectspublished numerous high-impact SCI articles. It is a certified base for national residencysubspecialty training, training dozens of graduate students, residents,visiting physicians annually.