The history of the Peking University Cancer Hospital (hereinafter referred to as the Hospital) dates back to July 1976, when its predecessor, Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, was established as a public anti-cancer facility. With four decades of unwavering commitment to cancer research and treatment, the Hospital has become one of China’s top comprehensive cancer centres. It is devoted to offering the best evidence-based and patient-focused medical care, conducting top-level basic, translational and clinical research, and providing high-quality basic medical teaching and specialization training programs.

The Hospital is one of the most versatile cancer centres in China, using surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and interventional therapy, etc. to treat a wide range of tumors, such as gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, oesophageal cancer, lymphoma, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, etc. It advocates multidisciplinary cooperation, integrating all available expertise and resources to provide patients with tailored comprehensive therapies. Multidisciplinary outpatient clinics, ward rounds and consultation are being conducted, especially in fields related to gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and pain and symptom management. The Hospital has also been actively promoting its successful experience nationwide. It has developed national clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, lymphoma and gastric cancer.

In 2017, there were 532 physicians and surgeons, 765 nurses and 339 health technicians working together closely in 34 clinical departments and 14 medical technology departments, admitting over 612 000 outpatient visits and 64 000 inpatients, and performing approximately 13 000 surgeries.

The Hospital also has strong capacity in basic and clinical research. There are 149 talented researchers working in 12 basic laboratories with the most advanced equipment and technologies in cell biology, proteomics and genomics. It also has a 450-square-meter specific pathogen free (SPF) laboratory animal facility and a 340-square-meter tissue bank with approximately 12 000 cases’ specimens in line with international bio-repository standards. Prominent progress has been achieved in research on carcinogenesis, cancer prevention, biology, epidemiology and biotherapy regarding the most common cancers in China, especially gastric cancer and breast cancer. The Hospital has been granted over 200 national projects, obtained more than 30 patents, and published over 4000 articles. Many research findings were published in world-renown journals like Cancer Cell (IF=24.755) and J. Clin. Oncol. (IF=18.038), and were highly acclaimed internationally.

The Hospital is also home to the National Drug Clinical Trial Centre (or GCP Centre), which was founded in 1999. The centre is engaged in the implementation of trials on Phase I-IV anti-tumor drugs and medical devices, and has carried out over 700 clinical trials so far, including over 100 international multicentre ones. Currently, there are 303 ongoing trials.

As a teaching hospital of Peking University, the Hospital shoulders training of postgraduates specializing in oncology, biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, imaging and nuclear medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, and other sub-specialties of clinical medicine. It also offers post-doctoral programs. Each year, over 200 postgraduates and post-doctors are trained in the Hospital. The Hospital is also responsible for the residency training program of Peking University Health Science Centre. There are around 30 resident doctors completing training each year.

In order to stay on the cutting edge of oncology, the Hospital constantly seeks domestic and international academic exchange and cooperation opportunities. Tens of academic lectures, seminars, conferences, etc. attended by elite international experts are held by the Hospital, and hundreds of our personnel are invited to important international meetings every year. Dozens of outstanding foreign experts have been appointed as honorary/guest professors, and inter-institution exchange of students, researchers and physicians is conducted on a regular basis. The yearly “Climbing (Pandeng) Program” funded by the Hospital, provides opportunities for young researchers and doctors to support their study abroad. The Hospital has established long-term partnership with many international institutions, including U.S. National Cancer Institute, Technical University of Munich, Cardiff University, University of Helsinki School of Medicine, University of Heidelberg Hospital, etc., for joint research and training.