Basic information
The Department of Breast Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, was founded between the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The Departments of Breast Internal Medicine and Surgery were separately established in April 2008. In March 2015, the Breast Surgery Center was set up. On June 1, 2017, the Breast Surgery Ward was established. After more than 30 years of development, the Department has become a diagnosis and treatment center of breast diseases in southwestern China combining medical care, teaching & learning and research. It has an annual outpatient volume of 60,000-70,000, and an annual operation volume of 5,000, including about 2,000 surgeries of breast cancer.
As a national treatment center for complicated and critical diseases, the Department has established a comprehensive multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment system (Oncology, Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Pathology, Plastic Surgery and State Key Laboratory of Oncology) to provide individualized diagnosis and treatment services for patients.
At present, it is a key discipline of the Ministry of Education and a key specialty of the National Health Commission, and it ranks No. 3 in the 2016 Specialty Reputation Ranking of Best Chinese Hospitals released by Fudan University. Currently, there are 18 doctors in the Department, including 4 professors, 3 associate professors and 6 chief physicians; 3 post-doctor, 4 doctors and 7 masters. There are 28 nurses, including 2 deputy chief nurses, 5 nurses-in-charge, 18 senior nurses and 3 junior nurses; 1 has Ph.D degree and 1 has master’s degree.
I. Clinical features
At its beginning, the Department firstly conducted the detection of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer by fluorescence immunoassay and the practice and researches of endocrine therapy for breast cancer. These efforts led the national trend for the studies on endocrine therapy for breast cancer and won the Third Prize for Technological Advancement granted by Sichuan People's Government; the breast silicone implant for mammoplasty technique has won the Third Prize for Technological Advancement granted by Sichuan People's Government. In 2010, the Department began to carry out the sentinel lymph node biopsy with dual tracers of radioisotope and blue dye, replacing the axillary lymph node dissection in early-stage breast cancers. Breast reconstruction is one of its advantages: focus is placed on diversification, micro-scarring, less trauma, and in-situ reconstruction, including breast reconstruction with prosthesis or various types of autologous tissues, autologous fat transplantation and endoscope-assisted breast reconstruction. It is one of the first specialties that implement the MDT diagnosis and treatment mode in the hospital. At the beginning of this century, the Department pioneered in carrying out ductoscopy of breast discharge and minimally invasive surgery of benign breast tumors. This attempt basically solved the difficulties in treating multiple benign breast tumors, and the practice has been carried out for nearly 10,000 cases with good results.
II. Medical education
As a MD and master’s degree station authorized by the Ministry of Education, the Department of Breast Surgery has trained nearly 30 doctoral and postgraduate students, and another 14 are studying. The Department has undertaken the teaching task of breast specialty of West China School of Medicine and the task of distance consultation and online teaching & learning for more than 100 West China network hospitals. It also compiles national undergraduate textbooks. Each year, the Department provides programs for continuing education (advanced study) for breast specialists across the country and trains nearly 10 breast specialists annually.
III. Direction of academic research
In recent years, the Department has undertaken 3 national and 14 provincial/ministerial research projects, published 59 SCI papers, 22 MEDLINE-indexed papers, 113 papers from domestic core journals/sci-tech journals, edited 1 monograph and co-edited 6 monographs. The Department has conducted in-depth research on the basis and epidemiology of environmental estrogen and incidence of breast cancer, the unique risk prediction models for breast cancer, breast cancer metastatic mechanisms, basic and translational researches on breast soft tissue engineering, clinical and basic researches on lymphatic drainage of breast cancer and three-dimensional pathological study of breast cancer heterogeneity.
IV. Regional leader
In 2010, the Department organized breast specialists from major hospitals in Sichuan Province, and established the first breast-specialized academic organization in the province - Group of Breast Disease of Sichuan Medical Doctor Association Surgery Committee. As the leader institute, the Department actively organizes regular academic exchange forums and training courses for primary level doctors, wining high specialty credibility in the province. Currently, the Department is playing leading roles in Sichuan Medical Doctor Association, Sichuan Medicine Association and other special committees on breast specialty in the province. In 2018, the Department has taken the lead in setting up the Western Breast Disease Alliance with about 100 medical institutes in 11 western provinces to jointly carry out regional collaboration.
