Myanmar patient undergoes successful cancer surgery in Shanghai

A 73-year-old patient hailing from Myanmar who underwent a successful stomach cancer surgery at Shanghai East Hospital a month ago has recovered well, doctors said during her first follow-up visit on Wednesday. 

If the recovery of the patient May Kyin continues to remain good, she will enter the postoperative chemotherapy phase in two to four weeks, said Han Junyi, director of the gastrointestinal surgery department at Shanghai East Hospital's north campus, who led a team to complete the surgery. 

The patient and her family said the process of seeking medical treatment in Shanghai went smoothly, and the treatment results were beyond expectations.

"We chose Shanghai for my mother's treatment after comparing several possibilities. We believed that China has advanced medical skills and that Shanghai represents one of the country's premier healthcare hubs. Looking back, this decision was completely correct," said Aung Kyaw Htwe, the patient's son.

The patient had experienced recurrent abdominal pain and was diagnosed with cancer back in Myanmar, dragging her family into sadness. As her son-in-law has business dealings with China, and there were previous cases of people around them seeking medical treatment in China, they found this hospital in Shanghai after comparing some possibilities.

Upon arriving in Shanghai in early June, her condition was found to be advanced, with the tumor showing significant invasion into surrounding tissues, including the tail of the pancreas and part of the transverse colon. Despite international guidelines recommending neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery in such cases, the patient and her family, considering the challenges of traveling back and forth for treatment, opted for immediate surgery.

The operation, which involved a complex procedure lasting over four hours and included total gastrectomy, resection of the pancreatic tail, partial colectomy, and splenectomy, was successfully completed. Remarkably, the patient met the discharge criteria within just over a week after the surgery, showing a swift and promising recovery.

Han highlighted Shanghai hospitals' wealth of medical resources and specialized teams, making such intricate surgeries routine in the city's large medical institutions.

"Statistics show that Shanghai's medical standards are on par with Japan regarding gastric cancer survival rates, and are about the same as the United States when it comes to intestinal cancer treatment," he said.

"Also, I call for extending visa duration for such international patients, who may require prolonged medical care in China, to ensure continuity of treatment and optimal recovery outcomes," said Han.

In this case, the patient originally held a one-month visa. As she underwent such a complex surgery, the hospital later issued a certificate to the Chinese authorities, which extended her visa by an additional three months.

Shanghai East Hospital, which has its north campus within Shanghai's financial district of Lujiazui, has a history of providing international medical services. Han said doctors in his department have performed surgeries for patients from countries, including Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany. 陆家嘴

Caption: Doctor Han Junyi talks to May Kyin, the patient from Myanmar, during her first follow-up visit after a surgery at Shanghai East Hospital on Wednesday. by Zhou Wenting