Thyroid cancer alliance set up in Shanghai

A specialist alliance for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer has been established at Shanghai Cancer Center to enhance medical exchanges, offer long-distance consultations and improve overall medical capabilities.

The incidence of thyroid cancer has risen nearly three times in the past three decades due to an increase in the number of health checks and the public’s growing awareness of the need for them, experts said on Friday.

With regular treatment, over 90 percent of patients can survive for over five years, a medical term meaning clinical recovery. In China, the five-year survival rate is currently 84.3 percent, lower than that in Western countries.

The Shanghai center conducts over 6,000 surgeries a year and has experience in complicated thyroid cancer cases.

“The medical standard in China varies. East China is one of regions with the highest incidence of thyroid cancer in the nation, while hospitals in the region lack effective cooperation,” said Dr Wang Yu, director of the center’s neck surgery department. “The alliance is to enhance exchanges and collaboration among hospitals in the nation.”

The first 74 members are from Shanghai and nine provinces with a total of 4,144 beds and around 30,900 surgeries a year.

The alliance offers online training and regulates clinical practice among all participating hospitals. This allows patients to enjoy the same quality of care in a hospital near home instead of having to travel to a major city.

Patients can also be transferred between hospitals in the alliance to enable better use of resources.