A major loss to the Chinese hematology community! Professor Zhou Jianfeng of Tongji Hospital died of illness at the age of 57

With grief, we mourn the hematology expert Professor Zhou Jianfeng who has made outstanding contributions to the hematology community in our country.

Writing | Sad Frog

Source | “Medical Blood Channel” Public Account

On March 27, 2022, Professor Zhou Jianfeng of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology died in Wuhan due to ineffective treatment!

Sudden news shocked the hematology community.

“It was agreed on the morning, but the wait turned out to be an eternal expectation, may Iron Man rest in peace”

“My good brother, he has helped too many people, whether they are colleagues in the industry or critically ill patients! He is too tired!”

“His departure is a major loss for the entire Chinese hematology community!”

“It’s too sudden. Yesterday morning, I was lecturing together at the Suzhou Conference. A few days ago, I was discussing Tianjin cuisine on WeChat. At this moment, my mind is blank, and I can’t believe the news from Wuhan. Bad news! Heaven is jealous of Yingcai!”

“Sad, I can remember the conversation with him”

“I’ve been in a trance since noon yesterday, I still can’t believe the news, I always thought it was a nightmare”

Blood experts invariably changed their avatars to gray, and the circle of friends was lit by candles all over the screen…

Image source: Ruijing Creative

Call him Professor Zhou, or “Iron Man”

In 1997, Professor Zhou Jianfeng successfully completed his Ph.D. degree and stayed at his alma mater to continue his medical career and scientific research after graduation.

In 2001, Professor Zhou Jianfeng returned from his studies in the United States. Two years later, he was appointed as the director of the Department of Hematology of Tongji Hospital. Self-proclaimed “the rookie director”, he rotates almost all departments of internal medicine: “Knowledge comes from practice, and as a doctor, you must practice in clinical practice.”

Twenty years ago, the development of the blood field in China was relatively backward, and hematology was both niche and difficult for most clinicians to understand. In particular, the diagnosis and treatment of lymphoma is very special in China. There is no relevant diagnostic technology in China, and foreign treatment methods cannot be used.

Professor Zhou Jianfeng said, “Lymphoma specialty is between hematology and oncology. Different departments will contact such patients, but there was a lack of very good diagnosis in China at that time. And the standard of treatment, patients not only often go the wrong way, but also many people spend money and can’t achieve the therapeutic effect they should achieve.”

He hopes that he can lead the team to make a difference in the field of hematological oncology.

Ten years of hard work, Professor Zhou Jianfeng led the Hematology Department of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology to publish more than 100 papers in international journals, with a total impact factor greater than 400 points, within 5 years The SCI of the paper has been cited more than 2000 times.

In 2015, Professor Zhou Jianfeng’s team successfully implemented the first case of CAR-T therapy in central China for the treatment of relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the world’s first two CAR-T cell sequential infusions therapy, and applied CAR-T therapy to lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other fields.

At the ASH2020 conference, Professor Zhou Jianfeng’s team announced a autologous transplantationCD19/CD22CAR-T cell cocktail therapy for the treatment of relapsed and refractory B-cell lymphocytes The research results that the total effective rate of tumor is as high as 90.5%!

Since then, Zhou Jianfeng’s team has continued to innovate and research and develop fully human BCMA (CT103A) CAR-T therapy for the clinical treatment of multiple myeloma, and achieved excellent safety and efficacy. , and has a long-lasting in-body duration. In February 2021, the technology was awarded the “Breakthrough Therapy Drug” designation by the State Drug Administration.

At the same time, since there is no mature solution for the treatment of EB virus-related hematological tumors with high incidence in my country, Professor Zhou Jianfeng took the lead in leading the team to conduct research and exploration in EB virus-related lymphoma. He called it the “Jiaolong Project”. Jiaolong is the deepest deep-sea probe independently developed by the Chinese and has reached the world’s advanced level. He hopes to use this name to carry out more original and breakthrough research to benefit patients.

Zhou Jianfeng’s project “Innovative CAR-T research on EBV-targeted treatment of refractory EBV-related lymphoproliferative diseases” won the National Natural Science Foundation of China Key Project. Through the unremitting efforts of leading the team, the disease has been exploredProfessor Zhou Jianfeng has thus become a well-known expert in the field of hemophagocytic syndrome and hematological tumors caused by EB virus infection in China.

Light, and the people who follow it

As of today, CSCO, Chinese Medical Association Hematology Branch, China Anti-Cancer Association and other public accounts have successively issued messages to mourn Professor Zhou Jianfeng.

Picture Professor Zhou Jianfeng

Professor Zhou Jianfeng is the leader of CAR-T development in China.

“For patients with relapsed and refractory hematological tumors with exhausted existing technologies, CAR-T is their life-saving herb. A considerable number of lymphoma patients can achieve curative effects, even in lymphoma patients. field, CAR-T therapy can be the ultimate treatment,” Professor Zhou Jianfeng once emphasized in an interview. For a long time, Professor Zhou Jianfeng and his team have been carrying out arduous technical research, trying to eliminate the “last mile” of tumors.

Due to this academic confidence and determination for the future, Professor Zhou Jianfeng has brought courage and hope to patients who are on the edge of life and death.

In 2017, a patient in the United States with two tumors, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumor, relapsed after multiple chemotherapy treatments and bone marrow transplants. Unable to line up and wait for the commercial CAR-T, I found Professor Zhou Jianfeng’s team in desperation. After a year and a half of treatment, she once sighed: “My second life starts from Tongji.”

Since 2016, Professor Zhou Jianfeng has led a team to apply CAR-T therapy to more than 600 patients from the United States, Australia, Southeast Asia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and other countries and regions. benefit to patients.

Picture the first leukemia patient in Hong Kong who received CAR-T therapy for a group photo after remission (Source: Huazhong University Tongji Graduate Student Public Account)

“The one who brought us the light is gone”

Yesterday, the founder of “Lymphoma Home” Gu Hongfei posted a message of condolences on the platform: “The one who brought us light is gone.”

Image courtesy of Lymphoma House

A patient commented below, recalling his encounter with the professor: “I’ll always remember him lightly saying that Hodgkin was a little ailment that healed a few years later. I can have children and live the same life as a normal person. Every time I see his new achievements and breakthroughs on the forum, I feel more at ease and confident in my future.

He does what he does, igniting hope and light again and again when his patients are desperate.

Professor Zhou Jianfeng said, “No matter how busy or tired you are, when you see a patient you have seen, a patient who was once desperate, after all the treatment, you will feel all the pain in your life. It’s all worth the effort. I think this is the most touching moment for a doctor.”

In addition to grief and regret, a family member of a lymphoma patient also appealed angrily: Because of this, we should strive to move in the direction of light, to the doctor who once brought light to everyone Give the most powerful attention.

Picture from Weibo

Do you believe in light?

As long as the Light Chaser is around!

The light will be there!

We are always here!

This world

Iron Man is here

Iron Man is gone

Give him a break

He’s going to another world to continue saving lives

All the way…

References:

[1] Sina Weibo.

[2] “Life Mentor Who Creates Medical Dreams – Zhou Jianfeng” Huazhong University Tongji Postgraduate Public Account.

Source: Medical Blood Channel

Editor in charge: Zheng Huaju

Proofreading: Zang Hengjia

Plate making: Xue Jiao