A team from Taipei Medical University Hospitals has successfully treated a case of the rare cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma.
Ewing’s sarcoma is a type of pediatric malignant cancer that usually occurs in people younger than 20 years of age. The rate of occurrence is 0.1 people per 100,000, making it a rare disease. If the disease remains untreated, it can quickly become fatal.
A student surnamed Gu, from Guizhou in China, experienced difficulty breathing for several weeks due to unknown causes. Gu first went to a major hospital in Shanghai for testing, but couldn’t wait for the test results to come back. Gu’s condition continued to worsen, so a trip to Taiwan for further treatment was necessary.
While giving Gu chemotherapy, Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH) also invited experts from a variety of fields to join the treatment team.
Members included current TMUH Vice Superintendent Yu-Chung Wu (then-Taipei Veterans General Hospital Chief of Thoracic Medicine), and world-renowned pediatric cancer authority and Ewing’s sarcoma expert Prof. James Miser.
They did periodic follow-ups on the patient’s status and joined Gu in the long-term fight against the disease. After more than 4 months of chemotherapy, the treatment team considered the patient’s condition to have tentatively stabilized, so in October of the same year, cancer surgery was performed, with post-surgical follow-up chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Finally, after a long treatment period, Gu finished all the procedures in January 2020 and was discharged by the treatment team to return home.
Visit Taipei Medical University for more information.