On December 8, the 2024 Asia-Pacific Transplant Oncology Symposium and the Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine Conference of West China Hospital (WCH), hosted by the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) and organized by WCH and the Sichuan International Medical Exchange Promotion Association, was inaugurated at Huaxi Campus. This marks the first time the Asia-Pacific Transplant Oncology Symposium has been held in China, attracting 48 global organ transplantation experts, oncologists, and hepatologists from 14 countries and regions, including China, Singapore, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, India, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Norway, Egypt, and Hong Kong.

The event brought together renowned experts such as Professor Vincenzo Mazzaferro, the formulator of the global liver transplantation standard (Milan criteria) from the University of Milan, Italy, ILTS President Professor Tim Meyer, Professor Gonzalo Sapisochin from the University of Toronto, Canada, Academician Dong Jiahong from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and President Zhou Jian from Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. They convened to discuss the frontiers and trends in transplant oncology, promoting technical exchange and cooperation. WCH’s Party Secretary Cheng Yongzhong and Vice President Wu Hong attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Party Secretary Cheng emphasized the hospital's commitment to international cooperation and multidisciplinary innovation, expressing hopes to strengthen collaboration with the International Liver Transplantation Society through this conference, bringing new hope to medical advancement and more benefits to patients.

Professor Vincenzo Mazzaferro highlighted that China has the largest number of cases globally, and high-quality research requires substantial case data support. He stressed that differences exist between Eastern and Western populations, including the Chinese, in terms of etiology and pathogenesis, and that consensus or guidelines must be based on case data from multiple countries across the East and West to more comprehensively address challenges in oncology and transplantation.

The conference featured a variety of formats, including thematic sharing, discussions, and case sharing, also reached consensus on frontier and hot topics in the field of transplant oncology and planned international multicenter clinical research.

"Transplant oncology" is an emerging concept that integrates transplantation, oncology, immunology, hepatology, gastroenterology, and radiology, adopting a multidisciplinary approach to optimize clinical treatment for patients with malignant tumors of the liver and biliary tract, especially those considered unresectable. Over the past decade, with the popularization of organ donation awareness and the advancement of transplantation technology, the field of transplant oncology has rapidly developed, benefiting a large number of cancer patients.