Editor's Note 
In recent years, the Yantai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has taken "reputation and trust among the people" as its belief and pursuit, adhering to the development strategy of "excellence in traditional Chinese medicine, strength in Western medicine, and integration of traditional and Western medicine". It has built a number of national, provincial and municipal key specialties with superb skills, excellent services and significant influence, becoming a benchmark and engine for the high-quality development of Yantai's traditional Chinese medicine industry. To facilitate citizens to fully understand the characteristics and strength of the municipal-level and above key specialties of the hospital, our hospital has specially launched the "National Medicine Specialization · Specialty Leadership" series of reports, presenting the unique charm and strength of the specialties in an all-round way, and better safeguarding the health and well-being of citizens.

The strength of the discipline forms the core foundation of the medical services, and technological innovation is the lasting driving force for the development of the department. As the Tumor III Department of Yantai Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, which is a national clinical key specialty, a national traditional Chinese medicine key specialty, and a national traditional Chinese medicine advantageous specialty, it has now established a standardized, regulated, and innovative integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine tumor diagnosis and treatment system. Relying on a strong specialized platform, a complete service model, and solid research and teaching capabilities, it steadily promotes the high-quality development of regional tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Deepen specialization in specific diseases and establish core advantages in specialized fields.

Under the framework of multi-disciplinary collaboration, the Tumor Department III has achieved precise positioning and differentiated development, forming its unique core competitiveness. The department focuses on the comprehensive and standardized management of gastric cancer and the two core features of traditional Chinese medicine's attenuation and enhancement of immunotherapy and targeted therapy. It has deeply cultivated diseases such as gastric cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, intestinal cancer, and gynecological tumors, accumulating a large amount of clinical cases and mature diagnostic and treatment experience, and maintaining a leading position in the region.
For the core advantageous disease of gastric cancer, the Tumor Department III has established a full-process integrated management system of traditional Chinese and Western medicine covering preoperative, postoperative, and rehabilitation periods. Before surgery, it uses new traditional Chinese medicine-assisted preoperative treatment to reduce tumor lesions, creating surgical opportunities for patients who are not suitable for surgery; after surgery, it uses traditional Chinese medicine for adjustment to quickly repair surgical trauma, restore spleen and stomach functions, and improve gastrointestinal anatomical structure disorders; during the rehabilitation period, long-term follow-up intervention is carried out, using traditional Chinese medicine preparations, decoctions, and special external therapies to prevent long-term postoperative complications such as bile duct stones, suppurative cholangitis, recurrent anemia, and digestive disorders, and solve these postoperative problems from the root, reducing the risk of recurrence and metastasis.
At the same time, the department precisely overcomes the pain points of modern tumor treatment and deeply focuses on the auxiliary intervention of traditional Chinese medicine in immunotherapy and targeted therapy. "Currently, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are the core treatment methods for advanced tumors, but they are prone to cause kidney function damage, hypertension, stubborn diarrhea, immune pneumonia, skin damage, bone marrow suppression and other side effects, which seriously affect the treatment compliance and quality of life of patients," said Shao Hongmin. The department relies on traditional Chinese medicine's syndrome differentiation thinking and follows the principles of "strengthening the body's defenses and eliminating pathogenic factors, tonifying the spleen and kidney, and consolidating the foundation and nurturing the essence", and specifically uses classic prescriptions such as Shenling Baizhu Powder and Sijunzi Decoction, combined with self-developed Xuanbei Jiejiao Capsules and Fuzheng Shengxue Granules, to precisely alleviate various treatment side effects. And based on the patient's physical condition, the dosage of Western medicine is flexibly adjusted to ensure the maximum guarantee of anti-tumor efficacy while protecting the patient's internal organ functions and repairing bone marrow functions, helping patients tolerate long-term standardized treatment. For peripheral nerve toxicity caused by chemotherapy and targeted therapy, skin reactions caused by skin treatment, and bone pain and fever caused by endocrine treatment, the department has also formed exclusive traditional Chinese medicine treatment plans to effectively improve various complications and significantly improve treatment comfort.

Innovative service system  Achieving complete closed-loop management for tumors

Unlike the traditional "heavy treatment, light follow-up" medical treatment model, the Tumor Department III has innovatively implemented a comprehensive closed-loop management service for tumors, breaking the barriers of treatment time and providing lifelong health protection for patients. From the patient's diagnosis, plan formulation, clinical treatment, to later rehabilitation, regular check-ups, and long-term prevention of recurrence, the department has established an exclusive follow-up mechanism. Medical staff follow up on the patient's condition for a long time, answer medical questions at any time, and adjust the rehabilitation plan. Even if the patient is discharged from treatment and several years later, they can still receive professional medical guidance continuously.
"The core of the comprehensive management is the deep integration of long-term intervention of traditional Chinese and Western medicine and humanistic care," Shao Hongmin introduced. A lung cancer patient with intracranial metastasis, who had paralysis after surgery in another hospital and received ineffective treatment at multiple places, was transferred to the Tumor Department III. The team relied on a combined Chinese and Western medicine plan to precisely control the tumor, combined with long-term traditional Chinese medicine consolidation and conditioning, and regular follow-up intervention. After six years of comprehensive management, the patient's intracranial lesion disappeared, and their physical functions were significantly restored. They gradually transitioned from monthly follow-ups to every three to four months for consolidation, truly achieving the whole-process protection from "treating the disease" to "restoring health".
To break through regional medical resource barriers, the Tumor Department III has established a multi-level diagnosis and treatment collaboration system, and a three-level diagnosis mechanism of intra-department case discussions, hospital-level MDT (multi-disciplinary consultation), and remote consultations with top domestic hospitals. This enables more precise solutions to difficult tumor diagnosis and treatment problems. Previously, a patient with cervical cancer after surgery and lumbar disc herniation had concerns about the side effects of radiotherapy and the risk of severe infection. The department connected with top experts through remote consultations, accurately assessed the condition, and avoided unnecessary radiotherapy damage for the patient, using high-end medical resources to precisely alleviate and safeguard the patient.
In addition, as the core unit of the Shandong Provincial Tumor Cancer Prevention and Treatment Specialized Alliance, the department has driven the standardization and homogenization of grassroots tumor diagnosis and treatment through technical assistance, two-way referral, and academic training, allowing high-quality medical resources to radiate throughout the Jiaodong region.
"We have been striving to create standardized pain-free wards, non-vomiting wards, and tumor standardized diagnosis and treatment demonstration wards, and build a 'assessment - intervention - conditioning - follow-up' full-process comfortable diagnosis and treatment system," Shao Hongmin said. The department follows the WHO's three-step pain control principle, combines external application of Huayu Zhitong Powder, acupuncture, and scalp acupuncture with traditional Chinese medicine techniques, and the satisfaction rate of cancer pain control is over 92%. They have established a combined traditional Chinese and Western medicine non-vomiting diagnosis and treatment model. Through pre-treatment with traditional Chinese medicine before and after chemotherapy, acupoint intervention, and dietary therapy, they completely broke the traditional perception that "chemotherapy always causes vomiting", optimizing the patient's medical experience in all aspects, making tumor treatment safer, more comfortable, and more compassionate. The department can also maturely carry out infusion port implantation, image-guided tumor biopsy, and HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) micro-nano non-invasive technologies, using minimally invasive, fast recovery, and highly effective cutting-edge technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Deepen scientific and technological education to lay a solid foundation for the development of the disciplines.

The Tumor Department III has always adhered to the development concept of "clinical practice driving research and research feeding back to clinical practice", delving deeply into core research directions such as the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in anti-tumor treatment, the development of characteristic preparations, and the optimization of attenuated-to-enhanced efficacy plans. The research and teaching achievements have been remarkable. Currently, the entire department has published over 40 academic papers, including more than 10 SCI papers and over 30 core journal papers, covering various tumor research fields such as breast cancer, lung cancer, and gastric cancer; team members have edited and participated in more than 10 professional books such as "Modern Cancer Treatment", "Traditional Chinese Medicine Oncology", and "Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Strategies for Cancer Prevention and Treatment". At the same time, the department has obtained 5 national invention patents and utility models, focusing on clinical pain points such as tumor ascites, solid tumors, postoperative rehabilitation, and fluid drainage, achieving the innovation and transformation of traditional Chinese medicine technology.
In terms of research project establishment and awards, the team of the Tumor Department III has cumulatively undertaken over 10 national, provincial, and municipal research projects, including the science and technology cooperation project of the national comprehensive reform demonstration zone for traditional Chinese medicine, the Shandong Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Development Plan, and the Yantai City Key Research and Development Plan, among others. They have successively won several provincial and municipal science and technology awards such as the Shandong Pharmaceutical Society Science and Technology Award Third Prize, the Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Award Third Prize, and the Shandong Geriatrics Society Scientific Progress Award Third Prize. Many research results precisely solve clinical problems and have been successfully applied to tumor clinical diagnosis and treatment.
In terms of talent development, the Tumor Department III has formed a high-education, high-quality, and professionalized integrated Chinese and Western medicine medical and nursing team. There are currently 3 senior professionals and 2 master's degree supervisors. They gather high-level talents from Shandong Province's traditional Chinese medicine and other high-quality talents, forming a reasonable structure, complete echelon, and innovative professional team. They regularly carry out clinical teaching, academic exchanges, and technical inheritance work, continuously cultivating young backbone talents, promoting the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine tumor diagnosis and treatment technology, and laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of the department. They take the lead in conducting regional specialized technical training, driving 22 alliance member units to improve their diagnostic and treatment levels, and promoting the overall development of regional traditional Chinese medicine tumor care.
In the future, the Tumor Department III of Yantai City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine will adhere to the development positioning of "traditional Chinese medicine has characteristics, Western medicine goes to the forefront", continuously deepen the research and clinical transformation, promote the standardization and normalization promotion of characteristic traditional Chinese medicine preparations and traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment plans, continuously improve the "prevention, treatment, management, and care" full-process tumor management system, and strive to build a regional leading and provincial-renowned integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine tumor diagnosis and treatment demonstration center, using professional technology to safeguard the health of the people and promoting the high-quality development of regional tumor diagnosis and treatment through innovation strength.