Editor's Note: From August 8th to 11th, 2024, the Annual Meeting of the Urology Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CUDA) was held in Xi'an. The conference was hosted by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and the Urology Physicians Branch, organized by Xijing Hospital of the Air Force Medical University, and co-organized by the Urology Physicians Branch of the Shaanxi Medical Doctor Association. Under the banner of "Healthy China, Urology Takes the Lead," the conference brought together many of the latest achievements in urology. At the conference, Urology Frontier interviewed the conference's executive chairman, Dr. Weijun Qin of Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, who summarized the conference's innovations and significance, and shared breakthroughs in xenotransplantation and advancements in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.01
Urology Frontier: As the chairman and host of the 2024 CUDA conference, could you tell us about the special aspects and innovations of this event?
Dr. Weijun Qin: The 2024 CUDA conference was an unprecedented event, with over 6,000 registered participants and more than 10,000 attendees, making it highly influential. We designed the conference with one main venue and 36 sub-forums, covering all aspects of urology. In terms of expert lectures, we invited eight academicians who provided insights into drug development, medical-engineering integration, and new productivity in clinical and basic medicine, offering inspiration across the entire medical field. Additionally, we invited six international colleagues from Europe, the United States, and Belt and Road countries, enhancing our exchanges with global experts. Overall, this conference offered rich and lasting benefits, with a profound and enduring impact.
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Urology Frontier: What role does the CUDA conference play in promoting academic exchange and knowledge dissemination? How do you hope to strengthen cooperation and knowledge sharing among urologists through this event?
Dr. Weijun Qin: The Urology Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association is known as the “Home of Chinese Urologists,” uniting all urology doctors in China. It covers a wide range of topics, including academic exchanges, training, rights protection, and development, exerting an increasing influence on the field of urology in China.
Through this conference, we further strengthened the unity among urologists nationwide and enhanced international interactions with experts from Europe, the United States, and Belt and Road countries, broadening our perspectives. In today’s rapidly developing fields, such as medical-engineering integration and new productivity, we are in an era of swift technological change. Without comprehensive cooperation and development, there will be no significant progress in urology. Therefore, this conference provided a platform for learning, exchanging ideas, and mutual promotion. I believe this is the greatest achievement of the conference.
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Urology Frontier: You have recently made breakthroughs in xenotransplantation. What is the significance of this technology, and what areas still need exploration in the future?
Dr. Weijun Qin: Although we have been exploring xenotransplantation for many years, it wasn’t until after 2020, with the maturation of gene editing technology, that we saw significant progress. Currently, only Chinese and American teams are working on xenotransplantation globally, and we are on par with the U.S. As gene editing, molecular biology, and immunology continue to advance, xenotransplantation is destined to become a major breakthrough in the medical field. As the saying goes, “Many things that seemed impossible in the past may seem challenging now, but they will likely become routine in the future.” The same applies to medical development—under the constant iteration of ideas and technologies, the field of xenotransplantation will undoubtedly experience significant growth. Currently, the survival of patients who have undergone xenotransplantation, whether for heart or kidney, has not exceeded two months, indicating substantial room for improvement and much work to be done. Therefore, I hope that Chinese urology and transplantation professionals will work together to achieve new breakthroughs on top of our current progress, bringing more hope to patients with renal insufficiency and organ failure in our country and contributing to the advancement of our medical field.
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Urology Frontier: Could you share some of the key innovations and achievements your team has made in recent years in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer?
Dr. Weijun Qin: In developed countries like those in Europe and the United States, prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Although China is a developing country with historically lower prostate cancer incidence rates, economic growth, lifestyle changes, and increased life expectancy have led to a 12% annual increase in incidence over the past decade. However, the survival rate in China lags significantly behind that in Europe and the United States. While the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 98% in the West, it is less than 60% in China. To my knowledge, no other disease in any medical subspecialty has a five-year survival rate gap of over 30% compared to Europe and the United States, highlighting the immense work that needs to be done by urologists in China.
For the past 20 years, our team has been dedicated to basic and clinical research on prostate cancer. We have made a series of innovative achievements in screening, early diagnosis, precise classification, surgical innovation, and drug development for prostate cancer. This year, we were awarded the first prize in the Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award. Going forward, we plan to continue strengthening cooperation with colleagues nationwide, promoting the adoption and application of innovative technologies, and striving to improve the five-year survival rate of prostate cancer patients in China by another 10%. This is our shared goal and expectation.
Dr. Weijun Qin:
- Position: Director of the Department of Urology, Chief Physician, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor at Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University.
- International Experience: Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University and Mayo Clinic, USA.
- Leadership Roles: Vice President of the Urology Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. Member of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. Deputy Director of the Urologic Oncology Professional Committee of the China Association for Promotion of Human and Health Sciences and Technology. Standing Member of the Urology Professional Committee of the People’s Liberation Army.
- Editorial Roles: Editorial board member of Modern Urology, Chinese Journal of Surgery, Chinese Journal of Urology, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology Urologic Oncology Special Issue.
