On June 11, 2021, the opening ceremony of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center (GCCC) was held in the hospital’s Taihe Hall. Professor Qian Chaonan, President of GCCC, Mr. Liang Yerong, General Manager of GCCC, and over 300 hospital employees and online guests witnessed the milestone event.

Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center “Set Sail”

Distinguished by providing proton therapy, GCCC is a tertiary-level cancer hospital of Concord Medical Group, and was developed with guidance from the University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center (US), in addition to cooperation with domestic tier 3 cancer hospitals. The Phase I construction investment of GCCC exceeds 2 billion yuan. Currently it provides comprehensive services to diagnosis and treat cancer.  Its key capabilities include the Varian ProBeam multi-room proton therapy system, multiple linear accelerators, PET / CT, and other high-end medical equipment. It is the first medical institution providing proton therapy in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Dr. Yang Jianyu, Chairman of Concord Medical Group, spoke to the hospital ideal of "Elevating life, overcoming cancer": GCCC will spare no efforts in shouldering social responsibility and becoming an important supplementary medical force to public hospitals. As an international cancer center specializing in cancer diagnosis and treatment, prevention, research, training, and telemedicine, GCCC will develop the high ground of medical technology in South China.  GCCC will become the most trusted partner of cancer patients.

Professor Qian Chaonan, President of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center

Professor Qian Chaonan, President of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center, addressed the gathering: Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center is equipped with the most advanced medical equipment and facilities in the world, and has set up an international medical and operational team with 370 excellent medical staff in place. Leveraging the advantages of technology, an expert medical team, and "patient-centered" services, we have confidence Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center will provide international level diagnosis and treatment services for our patients.

The high end cancer hospital is located in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with intent to serve patients throughout the nation.

This year is the first year of the 14th Five-Year-Plan. Some of the health care develop goals include accelerating the expansion and balanced regional distribution of high-quality medical resources, building regional medical centers, maximizing deployment of high-quality medical resources, and enhancing the quality and service level of health care.

In May the Guangzhou municipal government released its "14th Five-Year-Plan for Economic and Social Development in Guangzhou and Outline of Long-Term Goals for 2035".  It emphasized that Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City is an important engine for the high-quality development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area and that the city would deploy resources and efforts to develop biomedicine and the health care industry.

Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center is located in the center of the golden triangle of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area. It mainly serves patients from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the surrounding cities in South China, in addition to all of China, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Within the first group of high-tech medical projects launched by Guangzhou Sino-Singapore Knowledge City, Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center has been identified as the core project to promote life and health in Huangpu District. With the services of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center, cancer patients in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and surrounding provinces can enjoy nearby diagnosis and treatment services in line with international standards.

To serve patients with international medical standards and establish a new model of cancer diagnosis and treatment

The current status cancer prevention and control in China is unfavorable. According to the National Cancer Statistics released by the National Cancer Center in 2019, there are about 3.9 million cancer cases and 2.3 million associated deaths in China every year.  Over 7 people are diagnosed with cancer every minute. Cancers of the lung, liver, upper digestive tract, colon and rectum, and breast continue to be common cancers in China.

Cancer treatment is dependent on the core modalities of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  Proton therapy is known as the "crown jewel" of radiotherapy. Compared with standard radiotherapy which can cause damage in the process of body penetration, proton therapy is more accurate. For malignant tumors growing in the eyes, liver, kidney, brain and other important organs, proton therapy can kill cancer cells more accurately and protect the normal tissues which surround the cancer.

Hall of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center

This advanced treatment is a distinguishing characteristic of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center. Located at our hospital campus, the world's largest particle proton therapy center will be established here. At the same time, the hospital has set up a fully digital remote pathology consultation platform, allowing it to integrate with domestic and foreign medical experts in order to provide international level pathology services.

In recent years, some cancer patients have traveled overseas to receive proton therapy, which is quite costly.  In the near future, patients treated in Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center will be able receive in-depth expert evaluation from home and abroad.  It is expected that this advanced technology will help to improve the control of cancer in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The construction of a science and technology innovation center will accelerate the implementation of new research and technology findings, a core competitive differentiator

Scientific research and innovation drive cancer hospital development. With the support of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou Concord Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center has been officially established. It is committed to building a collaboration among industry, academics, research, and medicine.  The center will include platforms for R&D, simulation as well as teaching and training, all supporting the goal of developing medical research, technology growth, translation of new discovery, and market development.

Key priorities of the center include the clinical translation of research in tumor ecology and immunotherapy as led by Academician Song Erwei, promoting new applications of particle therapy technology, and artificial intelligence applicable to the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Guangzhou Concord Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center will also have access to the scientific and technological capabilities of CCM.  Cooperating with the various departments and member organizations of the group, it will stimulate "dual cycle development" of oncology innovation services and medical technology for South China and even the whole country.  It will establish medical technology innovation ecosystem defined by a "combination of medicine and industry". Liang Yerong, General Manager of Guangzhou Concord Cancer Center, stated: This is also our commitment to innovate on behalf of patients and the whole industry. The future will bring the achievements of cutting-edge scientific research.  From here, these advances will be incorporated into clinical practice so that more people can enjoy the health and well-being enabled by modern science and technological progress.