Team:Fudan/HCC
When the aroma of wine fills the tavern And bard's harp rings in rhythm Starlight shines above the sea Declaring the day coming to a sleep Storybooks are going to open Words come to live as often There was a piece of dark days When we human suffered from cancer pains Until one hope came "SwordS", they called the name
Hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC is a type of malignant tumor occurred in liver that has a universal feature — the presence of structural and numeric chromosomal abnormalities indicative of genomic instability. In most cases, it develops from small-cell, high-grade dysplastic nodules in cirrhotic livers. On histologic examination, HCCs range from well-differentiated lesions that reproduce hepatocytes arranged in cords, trabeculae or glandular patterns to poorly differentiated lesions, often composed of large, multinucleate anaplastic giant cells. It may be unifocal, multifocal or diffusely infiltrative in pathologic samples. HCC has a strong propensity for vascular invasion and recapitulates normal liver architecture to varying degrees. In summary, HCC is a serious malignant tumor with high heterogeneity. (Adapt from Robbins Basic Pathology 9th)
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During 2012, 782,500 (male 554,400; female 228,100) new cases of liver cancer and 745,500 (male 521,100, second leading cause of cancer death among males; female 224,500) deaths in total occurred around the world. Meanwhile, China alone accounted for around 50% of the total number of cases and deaths. China’s liver cancer cases are still rising sharply. Latest statistics reported that new cases and death cases climb to 466,100 and 422, 100 around China during 2015. |
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According to World Health Organization (WHO), the primary liver cancers can be classified into primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), and combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC), among which HCC is the most common occurring, making up 80% of cases. As the sixth most frequent and the third most lethal tumor, HCC brings great harm to the Chinese health. How to improve HCC treatment and raise patient survival rate has become an urgent social problem nowadays.
Behind the cold data is an icy fact: every single one counts for the death toll is a living world for someone else, leaving behind widows, widowers and orphans. As a creature with humanity and compassion, we feel the pain deeply; these torture our souls constantly. The torpor is still wandering the mist, while those who suffered had come to their conscious and step forward, directly into the unknown wilderness.
We began to read reviews, articles and books telling the same stories, hoping to find some comfort in the vast collection of literature, to see glimmers of future. We began to study the achievements of pioneer, tried to find a narrow path leading deeper. We used our identities as an undergraduate of Fudan University, to collect potentially useful resources. We no longer consider reserve and shyness, eager to argue with the masters of the college, hoping for any positive feedback. We dug repeatedly from the textbooks where countless people have cultivated, hoping to find any of the seeds forgotten in the soil.
Dots linked to form lines, while bunch of them point to a virgin land for us: cancer immunotherapy. The promising future and exciting achievements filled us with passion and confidence. We decided not to wander through the dark wilderness anymore, but to sow a seed on the ground, to light up a lamp in the darkness. We hope to take advantages of cancer immunotherapy, make a small contribution to the treatment of HCC, offering a tiny help to countless suffering and struggling souls.
The seed is called “SwordS”. We regard this project as the light of the night, the budding of the wilderness, the morning twilight of the dawn. Excitingly, SwordS cannot only be sharp blades to bring new possibility to HCC treatment, but also a powerful weapon which is promising become universal platform for optimizing cellular immunotherapy against cancerous diseases. We believe that is cherish occasionally!
We are not intend to propose only one piece of treatment. We believe that patients need more than cold surgical instruments or bitter pills. They have always crying for comfort and relief for their soul. We must walk down from the egoistic stage of doctors and scientists; stand in the shoes of patients and their families.
Therefore, we went back into the wilderness and closed our eyes to feel what they may feel. Feelings of loneliness, misery, coldness and darkness surrounded us immediately. We sink in the hopeless mood like a broken tiny boat inside the cold vast arctic ocean. The bitter wind was blowing hard and the thin clothes stretched thin. But the most terrifying thing is loneliness. The irresistible loneliness that having no one around us. It’s in fact the loneliness kills us but the illness.
We are more than grateful that we can still stand here as a healthy person. Besides the thankfulness, we also feel the sense of mission. They are so lonely that we have to do something to make a change. We cannot sit still any longer.
We decided to plant roses, numerous roses in the wilderness. Bright petals illuminate the dark fields and disperse the mist around. People start to gather round the flowers, talking and observing. We were asked: "How about these flowers? We raised a flag: "unit price: a piece of blessing"
The crowd bubbling up: how could blessings be calculated?
We took out the paper and the pen, and handed them out to the public. The noisy crowd gradually quieted down to the sound of friction paper, the scent of roses floating around slowly but constantly. Gradually, roses in the field leaves only the root and the remaining leaves. In return, blessings accumulated.
These blessings flowed from us like streams, dispersing the darkness of the wilderness, forcing out the cold wind, and connecting every tortured soul. Since then, they found themselves not alone.
We feel the strength of immunotherapy in person, and witness the glow of hope shines on the horizon. However, does everyone know the good news? To confirm, we went around and asked
"Have you ever heard of immunotherapy?
"What's your attitude toward immunotherapy?"
"Would you support and receive immunotherapy?"
When we get together again, the results of communication are deplorable: there are many who do not know that a new therapy for HCC is on its way and the darkness will eventually fade away. How to introduce immunotherapy to everyone? How will immunotherapy be the most vivid display of the coming future?
We went on to build a dreamland.
In the dreamland, people seem to be transformed into cells, with incredible abilities.
In the dreamland, cancer is curable; people can fully recover from cancer and live a happy life.
In the dreamland, immunotherapy is like the sun shining at noon, warming the world with power and kindness. We invited many children to enter the wonderland to experience this exciting future. We believe that this experience will sow seeds in their hearts and strengthen their confidence. We hope that after us, more brave ones will step into the deeper fog and eventually raise the sun of immunotherapy.
The urgency of HCC is summoning.
Though we traveled across the dark wilderness.
We still face a vast ocean of unknown.
An ocean filled with mysteries about HCC.
We pick up the SwordS.
We are the pioneers in cellular immunotherapy.
We are the conquerors of tumor.
We are iGEM 2017 Fudaners.
