On November 22nd to 23rd, the department of Thoracic Surgery of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center held a Symposium on Thoracic Oncology, gathering renowned experts from Gustave Roussy, Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue and Centre Jean Perrin from France and from numerous institutions in China.

For the third edition of the event, the 12 French speakers accompanied by some twenty of their Chinese counterparts, gave numerous lectures divided on 7 sessions; Early Stage of NSCLC and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Multi-Disciplinary Treatment And Targeted Therapy In Lung Cancer, Oral Chemotherapy, New Drug therapy for NSCLC, Innovation in Thoracic Surgical Techniques and Treatment, Surgical Treatment on Trachea and Rare Thoracic Tumor, and Innovation Treatment in Thoracic Cancer.

From the left to the right: Professor Olaf Mercier, Professor Lanjun Zhang, Doctor Benjamin Besse

But this conference was also an extraordinary opportunity to formalize the relationships between SYSUCC and two of the institutes represented during this symposium. During the opening ceremony, Doctor Benjamin Besse, representing Gustave Roussy, and Professor Olaf Mercier, representing Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Lanjun Zhang, the head of the Thoracic Surgery Department, opening a new road for Sino-French research and clinical advances in lung cancer.

SYSUCC and the institutions represented were also honored by the exceptional presence of the French General Consul of Guangzhou,Mr Bertrand Furno, and the Representative of Social Affairs in the French Embassy in Beijing, Mr Benoît Sevcik. The representatives from the Scientific Division of the French Consulate in Guangzhou also joined the festivities in order to further the collaboration between the two countries ; Mr Christophe Bonté and Ms Dora Courbon.

From the left to the right: Professor Marc Filaire, Doctor Dominique Fabre, Mr Bertrand Furno, Professor Olaf Mercier, Professor Lanjun Zhang, Mr Benoît Sevcik, Professor Jean-Pierre Armand, Doctor Benjamin Besse, Professor Jun Ma, Professor Liya Ju, Professor Peng Lin

Gustave-Roussy is one of the world's leading cancer-research institutes and the biggest health center dedicated to oncology in Europe. Internationally renowned for its cutting-edge technology and its innovative therapy, Gustave Roussy is at the forefront in very promising areas such as personalized medicine and tomorrow’s therapies(immunotherapy, DNA repair inhibitors, and epigenetic modulators).

The Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue isa non-profit organization specialized in Thoracic surgery and interventions(heart, lungs, major vessels, etc.) as well as a university teaching hospital ensuring cutting edge medical practices. Historically preeminent nationally and internationally in the treatment of adult and infant thoracic and cardiovascular pathologies, the CCML has always been at the edge of medical practice (First heart-lung transplant: June 1986, First double-lung transplant:1988, First pulmonary endarteriectomy: 1995, First total tracheal replacement using a vascularised, autologous fascio-cutaneous free-flap: 2007 (in collaboration with Dr. F. Kolb from Gustave Roussy).

The Centre Jean Perrin was created in 1973 and is one of the 20 anticancer centers open in France. The center offers multidisciplinary treatments such as imaging, biology and pathology, surgery, radiation therapy, medical treatment, supportive care, palliative care and works together with the University Hospital on education and research matters.