Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center

The predecessor of SYSUCC was the Tumor Hospital in South China. The founders were Professor Hsieh Chih Kuang (谢志光), a pioneer of clinical radiology and the founding father of radiation oncology in China, and Professor Liang Boqiang (梁伯强), the originator of modern pathology in China. In 1948, Hsieh Chih Kuang (Medical Doctor from University of Connecticut 1922) was recruited from PUMC (Peking Union Medical College), where he was a professor and head of the radiology department since 1928, to chair the radiology department at Lingang University. Since the early 1950s and with the help of Ke Lin, the Dean of the Zhongshan Medical School, they later established the Tumor Hospital in South China. The hospital opened its doors in March 1964 under the leadership of Hsieh Chih Kuang. A few days later a Cancer Institute was opened under the leadership of Liang Boqiang.[6]

In 1966, the name of the hospital was changed to the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Sun Yat-sen Medical College. The name was later changed again in 1985, to the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Sun Yat-sen Medical University. Twenty-three years after both their respective establishments, in 1987, the Cancer Hospital and the Cancer Institute merged under the name Sun Yat-sen Medical University Cancer Center. The name was simplified in 2001 to: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center.

According to the 2018 Nature Index report for global healthcare, the achievements of SYSUCC's active research environment were number 81 among the top 100 medical institutes in the world.[7] "The Nature Index is a freely accessible database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of high-quality science journals."[8]

SYSUCC has established collaborative and friendly relationships with many renowned international institutes from around the world.[15]

SYSUCC has been a sister institute with MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2003. The purpose is to create collaborative oncology research projects between MDACC and other sister institutes in the fight against cancer.[16][17][18]

In 2004, SYSUCC set up a joint laboratory with the Karolinska Institutet of Sweden for research in immunotherapy, molecular virology and oncological epidemiology.

SYSUCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK's University of Warwick in 2015, creating a partnership in cancer diagnosis, care and research. SYSUCC and the University of Warwick are exploring opportunities in regards to digital pathology, nursing, and anti-cancer drug research.[19][20]

In 2017, SYSUCC and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center signed a broad five-year Memorandum of Understanding to carryout research on cancer diagnosis and treatment.[21][22]