**+ Western medicine = miracle therapy of leukemia, Chen Zhen Wang Zhenyi won in the United States

Because of the original achievements in the development of acute promyelocytic leukemia and the development of new therapies, Wang Zhenyi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Chen Yan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received the 7th San Jerger Cancer issued by the National Cancer Research Foundation in the United States on the 6th. Research Innovation Achievement Award.

The two scientists used the "Shanghai plan" for the combination of arsenic trioxide and western medicine for the treatment of leukemia. This combination therapy is currently the standard therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia worldwide.

“The St. Gerlje Award is a breakthrough in cancer research. This breakthrough is a breakthrough that makes new cancer treatments possible; it is a breakthrough in the hope that millions of people will be cured of cancer,” said the National Cancer Research Fund. The chairman of the conference, Franklin Shaw, said at the award ceremony, "The two scientists have achieved such a breakthrough."

Chen Hao said that cancer prevention, control and treatment are areas that are full of challenges and urgently require research fronts to achieve breakthroughs. Conquering leukemia has always been his dream. Awards are the result of teamwork and the continuous efforts of several generations.

Wang Zhenyi and Chen Hao will share the $25,000 bonus.

Wang Zhenyi is currently a tenured professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, honorary director of the Shanghai Institute of Hematology, and a foreign academician of the French Academy of Sciences. He served as a master's tutor for Chen Yu. Chen Jian is currently the Minister of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China. He is also a member of the Third World Academy of Sciences and a foreign academician of the European Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Medical Sciences.

Founded in 1973, the National Cancer Research Foundation is the largest cancer research nonprofit organization in the United States. The San Jergi Cancer Research Innovation Achievement Award was established to reward pioneering scientists who have made extraordinary contributions to cancer research.

Arsenic + Western Medicine = Miraculous Therapy

Leukemia is commonly referred to as "blood cancer," in which acute promyelocytic leukemia is the most dangerous, the course of disease develops most rapidly, and mortality is high. However, Wang Zhenyi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Chen Yan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed the all-trans-retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide (commonly known as arsenic) combination therapy known as the “Shanghai Plan”, which has allowed millions of leukemia patients to survive.

At present, the "Shanghai Project" has been widely used in the world. The St. Gerigi Prize marks the recognition of the pioneering achievements of Wang Zhenyi and Chen Xi.

Study controversy and suspicion

Prior to the large-scale application of the "Shanghai Plan," the mainstream method for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia in the world is chemotherapy. However, chemotherapy mortality is high and the effect is not ideal.

In the 1980s, Wang Zhenyi, who was engaged in clinical work at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, studied the use of vitamin A oxide, all-trans retinoic acid, to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia. His role is to promote the conversion of cancer cells. I did not expect that the treatment effect would be much better, and the complete remission rate could reach 90% or even better.

Chen Zhen became a master graduate student of Wang Zhenyi in 1978 and participated in the compound screening of several induction steps prior to retinoic acid. After returning to France for 5 years, he returned to the Wang Zhenyi team in 1989. At that time, he mainly studied the molecular mechanism of retinoic acid induced differentiation and treatment of leukemia. .

They then discovered that with only all-trans retinoic acid treatment, the vast majority of patients will relapse in a few months, so they began to look for other potentially effective drugs.

In 1993, they met professors such as Zhang Tingdong, a professor of Harbin Medical University who was currently using alum cream to treat leukemia. Zhang Tingdong knew that Wang Zhenyi had found a target for the action of retinoids in the study of promyelocytic leukemia. He hoped to work together to verify the clinical effects of arsenic and seek possible therapeutic mechanisms.

Wang Zhenyi et al. initially questioned the letter and first conducted an in vitro cell culture experiment to see what effect arsenic trioxide has on promyelocytic leukemia cells. The results are “very interesting”. Arsenic trioxide has a selective effect on promyelocytic leukemia and can induce a certain degree of differentiation of cells. This differentiation degree is not the same as that induced by retinoic acid, and the dose of arsenic trioxide is relatively large or the action time is long. When it can cause apoptosis.

Wang Zhenyi's team found that the target of arsenic was the same as that of retinoids. Later, they began to do some clinical trials. They were mainly used to treat patients who had relapsed after treatment with retinoic acid and chemotherapy. As the study progressed, they found that patients do not have to be patients. After the recurrence, arsenic trioxide treatment is used, but combination therapy can be used. In the end, a very effective “Shanghai plan” was released, bringing the “five-year disease-free survival rate” of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia from about 25% to about 95%.

Since both retinoic acid and arsenic are toxic, the progress of this study is accompanied by controversy and suspicion, but ultimately the outcome of the treatment illustrates everything. "Using combination therapy, our doctors are more confident in relieving the patient's condition and keeping their lives," Wang Zhenyi said.

Thanks to the discovery of Chinese medicine

The two winners also pointed out that this study also benefited from two factors: Chinese and foreign academic exchanges and the exploration of treasure houses of Chinese medicine.

Chen Hao said that the counterparts of France, the United States and other countries provided a lot of help. After foreign counterparts learned about some of their initial work, they quickly conducted related research. The earliest verification of the effect of retinoic acid was completed by French scholars. Of course, foreign scholars have also learned a lot from Chinese scientists, and American researchers know from them how to dissolve arsenic at room temperature.

Wang Zhenyi said that their research has a lot to do with Chinese medicine, and there are many good things in traditional Chinese medicine that are being continuously discovered, such as artemisinin. Now we need to constantly explore the effective ingredients of the non-governmental prescriptions, study their mechanisms with modern scientific methods, and make it clear to make them more standardized.

Chen Hao believes that Chinese medicine pays more attention to the overall balance, and has accumulated a lot of simple dialectical ideas in clinical practice for thousands of years, and has accumulated a lot of useful drugs and treatment technologies. For example, arsenic has more than 2,000 years of history in Chinese medicine. Both the Neijing and the Compendium of Materia Medica have records.