The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province, debunked the claim on Wednesday that three doctors from the same laboratory had contracted cancer due to exposure to experimental environments, but confirmed that three people did develop cancer in recent years, two are breast surgeons in the hospitals, one is trainee doctor from other part of the country, while no students in the laboratory had been impacted by cancer. Photo: Sina Weibo

Local authorities would handle the case in accordance with the procedures and will also organize the investigation against the laboratory launched by third-party agencies, and the results of the investigation will be informed to the public in a timely manner, an official from the Guangzhou Health Commission on Wednesday said in response to three doctors in the same laboratory at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital were diagnosed with cancer.

The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, debunked the claim on Wednesday that three doctors from the same laboratory had contracted cancer due to exposure to experimental environments, but confirmed that three people did develop cancer in recent years, two are breast surgeons in the hospitals, one is trainee doctor from other part of the country, while no students in the laboratory had been impacted by cancer.

A female doctor surnamed Huang was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2023 before undergoing surgery, and she is currently in a stable condition, the hospital said in the statement.

Huang pursued her doctoral studies at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital from 2017 to 2022, during which she studied at the Breast Tumor Center laboratory. After graduating with a Ph.D. in July 2022, she joined the hospital's breast surgery department.

Another male doctor, surnamed Liu, who was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma and underwent surgery, and has recovered strongly. From 2013 to 2018, Liu studied in the laboratory of breast cancer center in the hospital pursuing his doctoral degree. In August 2018, Liu joined the hospital specializing in breast cancer.

In addition to the two doctors diagnosed with cancer, another doctors who worked as a trainee doctor in the breast cancer center laboratory of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in 2021 was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 while working back home.

The incident which included multiple doctors from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital being diagnosed with cancer has triggered strong public opinion and began trending on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo with over 400 million reads as of press time.

Many netizens expressed sympathy and sorrow for the doctors suffering from cancer, stating, "The doctors who have devoted tremendous efforts and passion to saving lives but are unable to control their own illness are truly heart-wrenching."

Huang's plight has also prompted netizens to offer help, and even medical workers in other countries to pay attention.

The three doctors diagnosed with cancer reportedly all worked in the team of Professor Su Shicheng in the hospital's Breast Surgery Department. However, Su, who works normally in the hospital, stated in response to the media on Tuesday afternoon that the claims of several students almost simultaneously suffering from rare cancers were completely false.

The breast cancer center opened in 2009 and has since trained more than 200 students, according to a statement issued by Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital.

Since its establishment, the laboratory has strictly adhered to standardized management, providing all laboratory personnel with safety and operational training before conducting experiments, it claimed.

In response to public concern over laboratory safety management, the hospital will continue to maintain safety measures and welcomes supervision by authorities and the public, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital reiterated its commitment, adding that adding that in response to concerns about the association of cancer with laboratory or reagent exposure, given the extremely complex causes of individual cancer occurrence, the hospital welcomes relevant departments to organize third-party organizations to conduct assessment and investigation.

The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, also known as the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, is a comprehensive tertiary A-level hospital located in Guangzhou. Established in 1835, it is the first Western medicine hospital in China and the birthplace of Western medicine and education in the country, boasting a history of 186 years.

Global Times