With the development of various molecular diagnostics concepts and technologies, oncology treatment has entered the era of precision diagnosis and treatment. To further promote the application of pathological diagnosis and precision medicine in the process of oncology diagnosis and treatment, the "Insight into the Minute" Oncology Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Symposium, hosted by the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics, was held online at 9:00 a.m. on May 8.

      The meeting invited Professor Kang Chunsheng, Professor of Neurosurgery at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Deputy Director of the Tianjin Institute of Neurology, to serve as the moderator of the conference; Professor Yu Shizhu, a leading authority in pathology at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital; Professor Xu Meilin, Administrative Director of the Department of Pathology at the Chest Hospital; Professor Xu Song, Deputy Chief Physician of the Department of Lung Oncology Surgery at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Deputy Director of the Tianjin Institute of Lung Cancer; Professor Yang Haihong of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University; Professor Tan Yanli of the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University; Professor Li Jie, Director of the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics and CEO of ProteinT (Tianjin) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.; and Dr. Song Lei, R&D leader of the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics and R&D Director of ProteinT (Tianjin) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., as speakers; numerous other experts and scholars in pathology and oncology precision diagnosis and treatment were also invited to conduct multidisciplinary discussions on the collaboration between pathological diagnosis and oncology precision diagnosis and treatment and to offer in-depth insights.

     As the moderator of the conference, Professor Kang Chunsheng delivered the opening address: the theme of this Oncology Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Symposium is "Collaboration between Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics," aiming to view the cutting-edge content of precision diagnosis and treatment from different perspectives—pathology, molecular diagnostics, and clinical practice—and to spark new ideas for the development of oncology precision diagnosis and treatment.

Tianjin Medical University General Hospital      Professor Kang Chunsheng

      Professor Yu Shizhu, a leading authority in pathology at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, delivered a sharing report titled "Pathology and Precision Medicine," centered on the relationship between the development of pathology and precision medicine, and the tasks and purposes of the pathology department in the process of oncology diagnosis and treatment. In his sharing, Professor Yu proposed that from the broader historical perspective, at each historical stage of the development of pathology, its diagnostic criteria were the most precise at the time; however, with the progress of the times, old precision standards will be replaced by new ones. So-called precision medicine is only relatively precise, not absolutely precise. Although many technical difficulties have now been effectively resolved, deep optimization is still needed, with ample room for improvement—precision medicine is always on the way.

      Subsequently, Professor Xu Meilin, Administrative Director of the Department of Pathology at the Chest Hospital, delivered a sharing titled "Optimization and Management of the Molecular Testing Workflow for Lung Cancer." Professor Xu emphasized that China sees more than 800,000 new cases of lung cancer and more than 600,000 deaths each year; non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma accounts for about 85%, of which the early to intermediate stages account for 30%; and currently the treatment approaches and molecular diagnostic results need to be standardized. She then provided a detailed introduction to the needs of lung cancer molecular diagnosis, the pathways and quality control of molecular diagnosis in the pathology department, and the optimization of the perioperative molecular diagnostic workflow.

     Professor Xu Song, Deputy Chief Physician of the Department of Lung Oncology Surgery at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Deputy Director of the Tianjin Institute of Lung Cancer, delivered a report titled "Precision Treatment of Lung Cancer," sharing the scientific research achievements of Professor Xu Song's team. Professor Xu pointed out that "clinicians should raise questions from clinical practice and challenge experience and 'standards'," so continuous innovation is needed for current R&D and clinical translation, and he gave a detailed introduction to his team's research translation directions, such as "Evolutionary mechanisms and intervention targets of early lung adenocarcinoma," "Mechanisms of metastasis and treatment of highly invasive lung cancer," and "Exploration of strategies and models to enhance the efficacy of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy."

      Professor Yang Haihong of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University delivered a keynote report titled "From the Perspective of Evidence-Based Medicine—Treatment of EGFR-Mutant Brain Metastases," centered on the medical treatment of brain metastases, and gave an excellent sharing on her research topic "Proteomics Study of Postoperative Brain Metastasis in EGFR-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma." Professor Yang pointed out that clinical oncology treatment should determine individualized clinical treatment plans under the guidance of evidence-based medicine through multiple aspects, including clinical research evidence, clinician experience, and the patient's personal wishes.

     Dr. Song Lei, R&D Director of the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics and ProteinT, focused on introducing an innovative project at this meeting, the "Proteomics-Based Recurrence Risk Prediction Model for Stage I Lung Cancer." This study is set against the background that lung cancer is highly prevalent in China with many early-stage patients, and that stage IA and IB lung cancer patients require no treatment after surgery; for these patients, it predicts the risk of lung cancer recurrence, enabling patients to detect recurrence early, prevent it early, and treat it early. He also shared the "Proteomics-Based Liquid Biopsy for Early Screening of Lung Cancer," using blood proteomics to find biomarkers for early lung cancer screening.

       In addition, Roche Diagnostics and Epredia were specially invited to share on "Automated FFPE Sample Preprocessing and Quality Control Solutions" and "Speed and Precision in Parallel for Pathology Products," respectively.

       In the discussion session, Professor Tan Yanli of the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University and Professor Li Jie, Director of the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics and of ProteinT (Tianjin) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., served as discussion panelists, centering on "How pathologists can play a role and leverage their advantages in clinical molecular diagnostic research; and, once the Stage I lung cancer recurrence model is established, how to integrate it with clinical practice to solve current problems."

     Professor Tan Yanli stated that molecular diagnostics plays a very significant role in the process of pathological diagnosis, helping the pathology department resolve many puzzles, and is indispensable. Pathology used to be merely a diagnostic result; with the development of molecular diagnostics, molecular pathology can not only provide diagnostic results but also offer guidance for clinical medication, and the two rely on each other. Their combination is the trend of future precision diagnosis and treatment, with enormous room for development, requiring us to jointly continue exploring better targets and models.

     Professor Li Jie stated that he hoped this symposium would combine the strengths of pathology, molecular diagnostics, clinical practice, equipment, and research, enabling long-term communication and sharing. Professor Li proposed that if the Stage I lung cancer recurrence model is established, how to integrate it with clinical practice to solve current problems: if the test result indicates a high risk of recurrence, whether clinical practice needs to increase monitoring frequency or increase medication or treatment—these issues all require further communication and collaboration with clinicians before they can be more precisely applied in clinical practice to benefit patients.

     The "Insight into the Minute" Oncology Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Symposium focused on the latest advances in pathology and molecular diagnostics, promoting the combination of the strengths of pathology, molecular diagnostics, clinical practice, equipment, and research. This forum created an opportunity for multidisciplinary, multi-omics, and multi-perspective discussion of oncology precision diagnosis and treatment models, and provided value for promoting the clinical application of oncology precision diagnosis and treatment. As a leading enterprise in clinical proteomics, ProteinT will continue to promote the development and innovation of new technologies and is committed to applying cutting-edge precision medicine technologies such as proteomics to clinical practice, bringing more efficient, precise, and convenient disease screening and diagnosis to patients.

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clinical Multi-omics

      Established in 2019 with the approval of the Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and relying on ProteinT (Tianjin) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., based on the already-established "trinity" multi-omics platform of genes, proteins, and metabolites, it focuses on further developing and upgrading proteomic and metabolomic methods to make detection methods more sensitive and rapid, synergizing with the increasingly mature genomic sequencing technologies to provide patients with individualized characterization.

      Since its establishment, the laboratory has achieved abundant scientific research results, undertaking and participating in multiple national and provincial-level scientific research projects, with 12 papers published cumulatively; more than 80 patent applications and more than 60 software copyrights; it has accumulated a clinical molecular database of more than 60,000 cases and established a data analysis platform, forming key laboratory projects in three areas: early cancer screening, precision medication, and early warning of cardiovascular diseases.