Breast cancer treatment in China

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in China, and the country’s specialist cancer hospitals treat a very large number of patients with it each year.

Who can ask for a review

Anyone with a diagnosis of breast cancer can send us their records, whether newly diagnosed, after surgery, or with cancer that has come back or spread.

Records to send

• The pathology report, including hormone receptor (ER, PR) and HER2 results
• Gene test results, if you have them (for example BRCA1 or BRCA2)
• Recent mammogram, ultrasound, MRI, CT or bone scan reports, and the image files if you have them
• A list of the treatments you have had, with dates and doses

Treatment in China

Standard treatment. Depending on the type and stage, doctors may recommend surgery, including breast-conserving surgery and reconstruction, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy.

Medicines developed in China. Several HER2-targeted medicines have been developed in China. Some of them may not be approved in your country. Whether any of them fits your case depends on your tumour type and the doctors’ assessment.

Clinical trials. Chinese hospitals run many breast cancer trials. Trial treatments are still being studied: they are not standard treatment, and their benefits and risks are not yet fully known.

Hospitals we can arrange

These are examples of hospitals our patients often choose for this condition. We can arrange care at other hospitals too.

• Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center: Specialist cancer hospital whose work is focused entirely on cancer.
• Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences: Specialist cancer hospital and host of China's National Cancer Center.
• Peking University Cancer Hospital: Specialist cancer hospital in Beijing covering treatment, research and rehabilitation.
• Peking Union Medical College Hospital: Large general hospital, useful when breast cancer comes with other health conditions.

We have no formal partnership with these hospitals. Each hospital decides whether to accept a patient and when appointments are available.

From your records to treatment

1. Free second opinion. Send us your records. Our medical team and specialist doctors in China review them and send you a written opinion, usually within 2 to 4 weeks. See second opinion.
2. Decide and plan. If you decide to come, we arrange your appointments or admission as soon as possible, together with your visa invitation letter, flights and hotel.
3. At the hospital. The doctors see you in person, may repeat some tests, and confirm the treatment plan. An interpreter is with you at every appointment.
4. Back home. You leave with translated reports. We keep you in touch with your doctors in China and help your doctors at home continue your care.

What affects cost and length of stay

We cannot give a fixed price in advance, because it depends on your case. The main factors are:

• the type and stage of the disease, and the treatment the doctors recommend;
• which tests the hospital needs to repeat or add;
• whether you need surgery or a hospital stay, and for how long;
• the medicines used, and whether you continue treatment in China or at home.

Hospital fees are set by the hospital. Once the doctors have proposed a plan, we ask the hospital for an estimate and share it with you before you decide anything.