The news about Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital held an online meeting jointly with Mayo Clinic's expert on Diagnosis and Treatment of Early Gastrointestinal Cancer was honorably recommended to the homepage of Mayo's website

Gastric cancer is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide and ranks as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The five-year survival rate for advanced gastric cancer patients is only 5% to 25%. In 2018, there were approximately 1.033 million new cases of gastric cancer worldwide, resulting in around 783,000 deaths. However, the cure rate for early-stage gastric cancer is high, with a five-year survival rate of up to 90%. Therefore, reducing the rate of missed diagnoses of early gastric cancer plays a crucial role in improving the five-year survival rate and prognosis.

 

The Digestive Medicine Department of Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital focuses on the endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of early-stage digestive tract cancers. A specialized team around digestive endoscopy and pathology has been established. Endoscopists and pathologists of that team have undergone special training to diagnose and treat early-stage digestive tract cancers to accumulate extensive experience in early-stage cancer cases. However, in clinical practice, it has been challenging to achieve precise correspondence between the histological appearance of tumor tissue under endoscopy, the histological appearance of gross specimens after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), and the appearance of tumor tissue in histopathological sections, which remains an issue to be addressed.

 

In December 2021, Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital became a Mayo Clinic Care Network (MCCN) member. As part of the membership, it allows Gaoxin Hospital to have “face-to-face” discussions and exchanges with Mayo Clinic experts through a tool called the “Health Care Consulting (HCC)” program.

 

On the evening of August 15, 2023 (Beijing time), an online academic discussion was successfully held, following active coordination by account managers of Mayo Clinic International, Mary Meyer and Susan Xu. Participants included Professor Ying SONG, the Chief digestive specialist and Director of Gaoxin Hospital, Professor Mark V. Larson, the Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Care Network and a gastrointestinal specialist, and experts from AIG (also an MCCN member), including Dr. Zaheer Nabi, Director of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Dr. Mohan Ramchandani, Director of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Dr. Pradev Inavolu, a gastrointestinal specialist, and Dr. Anuradha Sekaran. The Director of the Pathology Department.

The main focus of this meeting was to discuss and share insights regarding the work of the Digestive Medicine Department, at Gaoxin Hospital, in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of rare and typical cases of early-stage digestive tract cancers. The hospital's process and procedure for diagnosing and treating early cancers, endoscopic lesion management, image processing, and endoscopy-based diagnostic and treatment workflow received recognition and praise from the participating experts. Extensive discussions were also held on treatment selection, and postoperative specimen recovery and comparisons. Valuable suggestions were provided by the participating experts to address the hospital's challenges.

 

This meeting provided the Digestive Medicine Department's early cancer team at Gaoxin Hospital with a detailed understanding of Mayo Clinic and AIGs' diagnostic and treatment processes for early-stage digestive tract cancers. It also sheds new light on the methods for achieving precise correspondence among the histological appearance of tumor tissue under endoscopy, the histological appearance of gross specimens after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), and the appearance of tumor tissue in histopathological sections. The team members expressed their belief that the discussions and insights from today’s meeting will significantly optimize Gaoxin Hospital's diagnostic and treatment workflow for early-stage digestive tract cancers, and enhance their ability to diagnose and treat these conditions, to provide better care for patients. Dr. Ying SONG, the Chief digestive specialist, expressed gratitude on behalf of the Hospital for the support from Mayo Clinic and AIG. She hopes that common progress can be made through academic exchanges, experience sharing, joint clinical research, mutual visits, and other forms of collaboration, thus contributing to human health.

Vice President Ding Zhen from the International Medical Group, a key leader in this collaboration, actively participated in the discussion. During his remarks, he emphasized that the International Medical Group, as a crucial partner of Mayo Clinic in China, oversees two general hospitals—Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital and Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital. These hospitals maintain year-round academic exchanges, communication, and knowledge sharing with Mayo Clinic and other MCCN member institutions.

 

The International Medical Group is committed to gathering wisdom from the life sciences, aligning with international advanced diagnostic and treatment standards, engaging in dialogues with world-class experts, and resolving clinical challenges, by leveraging the most authoritative experts, state-of-the-art equipment, reliable technologies, and the most open and inclusive academic approach. Our ultimate goal is “letting patients live with dignity and medical professionals work with respect.”

 

Health Care Consulting (HCC) aims to enhance the comprehensive capabilities of Mayo Clinic Care Network members. Since becoming a member of it, Gaoxin Hospital has carried out 7 HCC projects, successfully addressing various clinical issues raised by multiple departments.

 

The Digestive Medicine Department of Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital comprises several units, including two inpatient wards with a total of 160 beds, an ambulatory (day) surgery ward, a gastrointestinal rehabilitation center, an endoscopy center, and a laboratory. The endoscopy center spans an area of 1,500 square meters, equipped with 10 standard procedure rooms, state-of-the-art endoscopy equipment, AI endoscopy systems, and a gastrointestinal endoscopy quality control platform. The department is dedicated to continuous innovation in endoscopic techniques, establishing expertise in minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment. Specialized procedures such as endoscopic treatment for gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal and gastric variceal ligation, and endoscopic treatment for internal hemorrhoids are among the department's leading technologies, positioning it at the forefront within the province and nationally.

 

The medical and nursing teams of the Digestive Medicine Department of Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital also emphasize academic exchange. In recent years, numerous national, provincial, and municipal-level academic conferences have been organized, providing a platform for academic exchanges, which has been receiving wide acclaim from the industry. It is believed that with deepening collaborations and exchanges with world-class medical/healthcare institutions like the Mayo Clinic, the Digestive Medicine Department of Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital will see significant enhancements in diagnostic and treatment processes and capabilities.