Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center Thoracic Surgery: Lung and Esophageal Teams

The hospital and its thoracic surgery department

Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center was founded on 1 March 1931 and is a tertiary specialist cancer hospital directly affiliated with Fudan University, located in Shanghai and operating under National Health Commission budget management. It works across Xuhui and Pudong campuses and collaborates with Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Hospital; not every procedure is performed at every campus. In the 2023 Fudan national specialty reputation list, the hospital's specialty was placed tenth nationally. That is a dated historical listing, not a current 2026, subspecialty or individual ranking.

The department matters to overseas patients mainly because lung and esophageal cancer questions are handled within a disease-specific multidisciplinary model rather than by one clinician working alone. The hospital's own overview describes multidisciplinary, disease-specific care and whole-course management alongside teaching, research and prevention. Which campus hosts a particular assessment or operation is a question for the treating team, not something to assume from the institutional description.

Lung nodules, lung cancer and esophageal directions

The clearest documented clinical direction is early non-small-cell lung cancer, especially ground-glass-dominant disease. Chen Haiquan's research history, as described by Fudan University, covers lung cancer screening, individualized organ-preserving surgery and perioperative diagnosis. The practical distinction patients should understand is between a nodule that is being characterized, one that is being watched under a structured plan, and one where resection is being considered. These are different clinical questions, and the department's research does not collapse them into one pathway.

A second direction is selective lymph-node assessment. In ground-glass-dominant invasive lung adenocarcinoma judged node-negative, a phase III randomized trial compared no lymph-node dissection with systematic mediastinal dissection. That is a specific trial population and question, not a general statement that lymph nodes can be left alone. A patient reading about it should ask whether their own imaging and pathology features would place them inside or outside such a population, and what the treating surgeon's standard approach is for their case.

A third direction concerns multiple ground-glass nodules. A prospective multicenter study examined selective curative resection with organ preservation and structured monitoring. The word "structured" is doing real work here: it describes a research protocol with defined review, not a suggestion that patients design their own observation schedule. Whether any nodule needs action, and when, depends on individual radiological and pathological assessment.

A fourth, narrower direction is perihilar ground-glass-dominant nodules. A multicenter retrospective study described CT-guided Hookwire localization with wedge resection in selected small nodules. Retrospective means the researchers looked back at records rather than assigning treatments; it is not a randomized comparison and does not establish that every perihilar nodule is eligible or that the approach is superior. Patients with a centrally located nodule may reasonably ask whether localization techniques are relevant to their anatomy.

The esophageal side is documented separately. A 2017 Fudan report describes a prospective comparison of right versus left thoracic access in esophageal cancer surgery, and a separate prospective randomized study of different extents of lymph-node dissection that was then ongoing. These are historical research descriptions, not current recruitment notices or instructions about which approach is better. A patient with esophageal cancer should ask how the team stages disease, what operation is proposed, and what the evidence base is for that choice in their situation.

Named thoracic leadership and roles

Chen Haiquan is documented in Fudan University reporting as thoracic surgery director in 2025, and in September 2025 as thoracic chief and lung multidisciplinary team chief expert. A May 2026 Fudan report describes him as thoracic MDT chief expert. These dated descriptions are useful for understanding who has led the department's lung work, but they are not a promise that any particular patient will be seen by him or that he personally performs every operation.

Zhang Yang appears in the May 2026 Fudan report as thoracic deputy director and chief physician, working on the perihilar-nodule surgical cohort. That is a specific documented role and research involvement. It does not establish a separate clinic, a booking route or a subspecialty ranking. Overseas patients often ask to be matched to a named surgeon; the honest answer is that assignment depends on the hospital's own assessment and scheduling, and the treating team decides who is appropriate.

The multidisciplinary structure is the more useful fact for planning. A lung MDT brings imaging, pathology and surgical perspectives to the same case, which matters when the question is whether a ground-glass nodule is being watched, biopsied or resected. Patients should ask which specialties will review their records, whether a pathology review is needed, and what the team needs before it can give a view. Those questions are more productive than requesting a specific name in advance.

Research: what the studies actually asked

The department's research output spans several designs, and the differences matter to patients deciding whether a study is relevant to them. The 2017 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress first prize, reported by Fudan in March 2018, recognized work on individualized diagnosis and treatment of early non-small-cell lung cancer, including imaging, pathology and molecular subtyping and extent-of-resection questions. That is a research program recognition, not a treatment protocol a patient can request.

The lymph-node trial is a phase III prospective randomized study, reported in July 2025 as published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Its question was whether, in a defined node-negative ground-glass-dominant population, omitting dissection is safe compared with systematic dissection. The reported analysis was interim, so it does not establish a mature long-term cure guarantee. A randomized design is stronger evidence than a retrospective series for the specific question asked, but it still applies only to the population studied.

The multiple-nodule study is described as prospective and multicenter, examining selective curative resection with organ preservation and structured monitoring. The perihilar study is retrospective and multicenter, examining Hookwire localization with wedge resection in selected nodules. Neither is a device-engineering or laboratory study; both are clinical research about surgical strategy and selection. Neither should be read as a bookable service or as proof that a given patient can avoid or receive surgery.

The esophageal work from 2017 included a prospective comparison of surgical access and a prospective randomized study of lymph-node dissection extent. These are clinical questions about operative strategy. Historical reports do not confirm current trial recruitment, current results or availability to international patients. A patient interested in a trial should ask the treating team directly whether any relevant study is open, what it requires, and whether participation would change standard care.

Honors and how to read them

Fudan University's May 2025 feature named Chen Haiquan a Shanghai Advanced Worker among eleven Fudan people recognized. The same report lists him as first contributor on a Shanghai Science and Technology Progress first prize, a China Anti-Cancer Association science and technology first prize and a Chinese Medical science first prize, along with a National Famous Doctor Outstanding Contribution recognition and a Shanghai May 1 Labor Medal. These are individual and project distinctions, attributed to him rather than to the department as a whole.

The 2017 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress first prize was awarded for 2017 and reported in March 2018; the award year and the announcement year are not the same. It was a municipal science and technology award, not a national one. Patients sometimes treat awards as a proxy for surgical outcomes. They are recognition of research and professional contribution, and they do not predict an individual result. The useful question is what the team's assessment of your own imaging and pathology shows.

Practical questions before an overseas visit

Start with the clinical question rather than the hospital name. Ask whether your nodule or tumor has been characterized with adequate imaging and pathology, whether a pathology review is needed, and whether the team's view depends on tests not yet done. For esophageal disease, ask how staging will be confirmed and what operation is being considered. Ask which campus the assessment and any surgery would take place at, since the institution operates across Xuhui and Pudong and not every procedure is available at every site.

Ask who will review your case, whether a multidisciplinary review is planned, and what records the team wants first. Ask whether any research study is relevant to your situation and what participation would involve. Ask what the treating team's own written plan and fee scope include, rather than relying on general assumptions about Chinese hospitals. Suitability and scheduling remain the hospital's decision.

Lung and chest surgery in China

How ChinaSpecialistCare can help

ChinaSpecialistCare provides non-clinical coordination for overseas patients researching thoracic surgery in China: organising records, requesting specialist appointments, and interpretation and hospital coordination after acceptance. Suitability and scheduling stay with the treating team, and no named surgeon is guaranteed. A short summary is enough to begin.