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16 November 2006 Professor Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology of
Located at the Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer of the Prince of Wales Hospital, the State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China is a scientific research centre of national level focusing especially in cancers of high prevalence in Asia. Cancer is the number one cause of death in Hong Kong. This is the only State Key Laboratory in Hong Kong for this extremely important and prevalent disease. Its establishment was formally approved by the Central Government’s Ministry of Science and Technology of China in October 2006, and was built on the foundation of the University’s close and long-established partnership with Sun Yat-sen University in cancer research, and with the support of the Education and Manpower Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government. The State Key Laboratory is also backed by a strong clinical base, made possible by the long-standing support of the Hospital Authority and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Of special significance, this strategic location has promoted the readiness for research outputs to be translated into clinical solutions that bring hope and benefits to the patients. Added with the partnership with Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, the research focus of the State Key Laboratory will be on cancers which are especially threatening to the Guangdong population, such as nasopharyngeal and lung cancers. Capitalizing on the strengths of the University’s Faculty of Medicine and pulling together expertise from its various departments, research at the State Key Laboratory spans across the major aspects of oncology, from cancer biology, early detection, to novel therapeutics for cancers of high prevalence in Asia. In the decade leading up to the establishment of the State Key Laboratory, the Comprehensive Cancer Trials Unit at the Cancer Centre has conducted over 100 trials and is the first and only oncology centre in Hong Kong to be recognized by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a new drug testing site and has recently been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of China as a trial site for registrational studies. With the inauguration of the State Key Laboratory, continued efforts will be dedicated to interdisciplinary research. Ongoing collaborations have already been established with over 20 top cancer trial centres in the world, including MD Anderson, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, Oxford University, Fudan University and Peking University. Our areas of particular interest include the identification of new cancer markers, development of advanced screening technology and molecular staging strategies, with a view to detecting cancers at an early or even precancerous stage, and to aim at substantially decreasing the mortality rate associated with malignant diseases. Besides detection and diagnosis, researchers at the State Key Laboratory will also strive to develop and test new drugs for curing and managing cancers. The national standing granted to the Laboratory represents the State’s recognition of the University’s unremitting efforts and academic excellence in medical research, while at the same time serves as an important platform for extending its scientific achievements to benefit the wider Chinese community. This State Key Laboratory will further consolidate the University’s presence in the global research arena and anchor its role in spearheading international collaborations in medical research as well as promoting scientific development of the nation.
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