[China Tech] Local Experts Develop Precise Treatment for Most Deadly Breast Cancer

China Tech is a column dedicated to the innovations reshaping China – and, inevitably, the world. From cutting-edge AI labs and next-gen robotics to homegrown apps that redefine daily life, we explore the breakthroughs that emerge from the country's relentless drive for technological dominance. Some are game-changers, others cautionary tales, but all offer a glimpse into the future as it's being built, at breakneck speed, in China.

Medical experts from the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center have developed a novel chemotherapy plan for the most deadly type of breast cancer to achieve a 92.3 percent three-year disease-free survival and a 36 percent reduction in relapse.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in women, while triple-negative breast cancer is the most complex and deadly form, with a much higher chance of relapsing and metastasis.

Such breast cancer does not express the genes for HER2, progesterone receptors, or estrogen receptors. Therefore, chemotherapy is the only treatment option, and the long-term treatment outcome is poor.

Triple-negative breast cancer affects about 25 percent of patients.

"Even though undergoing standard treatment, some patients in the early stage also have a relapse. So we were looking for a more precise and individualized treatment based on different risks of relapse for better treatment outcome," said Dr Shao Zhimin, a leading expert in the research that led to the new plan.

[China Tech] Local Experts Develop Precise Treatment for Most Deadly Breast Cancer

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Dr Shao Zhimin performs a breast cancer surgery.

In 2021, Shao's team launched the clinical research to study the part of early-stage triple negative patients with the highest risk of relapse and screened out similar features of these patients.

Doctors also kicked off a clinical trial on an innovative therapy, which added chemotherapy drug carboplatin into the standard treatment plan.

After a four-year followup, patients' three-year disease-free survival with the new therapy hit 92.3 percent, higher than the 85.8 percent with routine combination of medicine. The relapse rate also dropped to 36 percent, 6.5 percentage points lower.

"It was a Chinese professional-led phase-III clinical trial targeting triple negative breast cancer patients home and abroad. It boosts the precise treatment based on patient categorization," Shao said.

The research received international recognition and was published by the world-leading British Medical Journal, providing a new solution and offering more hope for patients with the most deadly breast cancer.