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| Lymphoma expert Dr. Jonathan Schatz (left), myself, and cancer researcher Dr. Zhizhong Li |
It was just a little idea I had about a decade ago. But I am determined now to move move our China Lymphoma Project forward. Our first global conference, which took place several years ago at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, Calif. (above), was a terrific beginning.
It was a lively, informative and inspirational event whose overriding theme was the friendship between scientists in China and scientists in the United States. The people of the two most powerful countries in the world have an enormous opportunity to move forward together through science. There were not many folks who thought we could pull this off.
My original speech was widely embraced. And now I have returned to this project that I had to postpone.
I never listen to doubters.
As we in the United States looked for ways to address the cancer crisis in China, where I have many friends and colleagues and where more than 7,500 people die of the disease each day, the consensus among many who attended the conference was that our little project was a positive thing that has the potential to make a real difference.
While putting this project together, we worked side-by-side with such prestigious young biopharmaceutical companies in China as JW Therapeutics, InnoCare Pharma, and AntiCancer Bioscience.
Each of these companies has a game-changing lymphoma treatment approved for use and/or in clinical trials. And each of these companies has a presence in both China and the United States.
And that is the key point here. These companies are involved in bringing new, state-of-the-art cancer treatments to both China and the United States. And there are multiple United States companies that have a presence now in China.
Cancer knows of no boundaries. And lymphoma, especially, is a worldwide menace. As many of you know, I've been fighting lymphoma and writing about it for 25 years. My cancer recurred a few months ago after a 20-year plus remission, and I just recently saved my by choosing to go through CAR T immunotherapy.
In China, lymphoma has been on the rise for the last decade. And it is already the fifth most common cancer in the US.
Lymphoma is of course one of several types of cancer that is alarmingly on the rise in China, especially in urban areas where there are hazardous levels of pollution.
But unlike lung cancer and some other cancers, lymphoma remained a great mystery to many people in China -- despite the fact that it was becoming much more common.
That has changed, as I predicted it would. China is now enjoying a biotech boom, especially with regard to blood cancer awareness and treatments and clinical trials, largely thanks to the companies I named above.
The government in China, too, is making a concerted effort to address the problem by, among other things, "declaring war" on air and water pollution, and of course by supporting the biotech industry's growth.
There are a number of biotech companies in China that are now researching and marketing new lymphoma treatments, and the greatest thing about this boom is that it has generated several new partnerships between China and the US.
This remains a great and mostly untold story. US and China pharmaceutical companies are now partnering on projects and research. And this can only lead to positive things for the planet.
The conference I held several years ago powerfully represented our project's mission, which was and is to bring our countries closer together under the banner of science. Our goal has not changed.
The idea is to leverage the latest communication technologies (social media, podcasts, smartphone apps and more) to provide much-needed information and hope, as well as comfort and compassion, to China's lymphoma cancer sufferers and their families and increase good will between our two great countries.
When I started this, many people in China who received a lymphoma diagnosis just went home and gave up. The awareness of this type of cancer was just not widespread. Many believed it was a death sentence.
When I started this, many people in China who received a lymphoma diagnosis just went home and gave up. The awareness of this type of cancer was just not widespread. Many believed it was a death sentence.
With access to new information about treatments and stories of Chinese people as well as others around the world who have been treated and are now doing fine, that has all changed. They now know that all types of lymphoma are treatable and beatable.
A Global Gathering in La Jolla
Dr. Jonathan Schatz, a globally respected lymphoma physician and researcher from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, pledged his and the hospital's support for the project, talked at our first conference about the need for more international cooperation between physicians, and suggested the project should pursue more epidemiological studies on lymphoma in China.
This ebook will of course be FREE to China's lymphoma patients, and will be of course available in both Simplified Chinese and English.
Project Reaches Tipping Point
Our project now resonates with an increasingly broad audience worldwide. With all the social media, etc., it makes more sense than ever. We now expect this positive initiative to fly after a few starts and stops.
Our project now resonates with an increasingly broad audience worldwide. With all the social media, etc., it makes more sense than ever. We now expect this positive initiative to fly after a few starts and stops.
As I told the gathering at my conference introduction back in 2016, the biotech and cancer hospital communities in both China and the US are eager to join us. Because everybody wins.
The booming San Diego tech community is coming to us now, too, as are a variety of healthcare companies, doctors and more. And pretty much any science-focused company doing business in China or would like to and anyone who cares about China's people and about goodwill between the two most powerful countries in the world. We have positive and substantive relationships with several American universities, biotech leaders from China and the US, and more.
Support From Chinese Government Officials
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| Hua Liu, Consul of Science & Technology, Photos by Caitlin Prenga |
Other speakers at the conference included Dr. Huan-You Wang, a highly respected pathologist and lymphoma diagnostic expert at UCSD Moores Cancer Center, my personal cancer hospital.
Dr. Wang stressed the need for all cancer patients to get the correct diagnosis, and noted that while there are many brilliant doctors and scientists in China, diagnosing cancer in China still has a long way to go.
Typically, he said, pathologists in China were not specialists, they covered all diagnoses, not specific types of cancer. This, too, is changing as more hospitals learn about blood cancers and have access to new treatments and clinical trials.
Typically, he said, pathologists in China were not specialists, they covered all diagnoses, not specific types of cancer. This, too, is changing as more hospitals learn about blood cancers and have access to new treatments and clinical trials.
Dr. Catriona Jamieson, the acclaimed physician and expert in lymphoma and other blood cancers and Director of Stem Cell Research at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, spoke brilliantly yet conversationally at our initial launch about the groundbreaking efforts at Moores to identify new ways to treat cancer, including lymphoma.
She also explained a few of the encouragingly growing number of partnerships between cancer scientists in China and the US. This has increased many-fold since her speech, as she predicted it would.
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| Yours truly (left) and Dr. Jinghong Li |
Please Support This Global Friendship Initiative
Let's get back on the horse. The China Lymphoma Project is seeking funding to fulfill our global mission of friendship through advanced science. Please support this historic project with a tax-deductible educational grant.
E-mail us at: sdsufan2000@gmail.com
My cell is 858-397-4950
Xie-xie,
Founder and Director
The China Lymphoma Project
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