Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital)

Zhejiang Cancer Hospital — also operating as the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences — is one of China's original four cancer specialty hospitals established after the founding of the People's Republic, ranking consistently among the nation's top seven oncology centers for over a decade. Founded in 1963, it is the undisputed oncology leader in Zhejiang Province and East China, now serving as the designated National Cancer Regional Medical Center and home to a heavy-ion therapy facility.

History and Scale: Established in October 1963 as one of China's first-generation dedicated cancer hospitals, the institution has grown from a pioneering single-site facility into a multi-campus cancer network. The main Banshan campus in Hangzhou's Gongshu District operates 1,910 open beds and 43 clinical departments. A major expansion is underway with the Shaoxing campus, a planned 2,500-bed comprehensive cancer hospital expected to open in 2026. The hospital also closely manages satellite facilities in Taizhou (1,000 planned beds), Quzhou, Ningbo, and Pingyang, extending its cancer care network across Zhejiang Province. It anchors the Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a partnership formalized in 2019 that elevated its research profile to the national academy level.

Star Specialties: Two departments hold National Key Clinical Specialty designations: Medical Oncology and Pathology. The hospital operates four major disease centers — Gastric Cancer Center, Maxillofacial & Head-Neck Tumor Center, Breast Tumor Center, and Thoracic Tumor Center — each providing truly multidisciplinary care with surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists co-located in disease-specific units. The Radiation Oncology Department is among China's most technologically advanced, equipped with a heavy-ion therapy system (one of only a handful in the world), CyberKnife, TomoTherapy, and multiple Varian linear accelerators. The hospital's surgical oncology program runs a da Vinci robotic surgery service and performs among the highest volumes of complex oncologic resections in East China. The hospital also leads multiple national clinical trials in targeted therapy and immunotherapy, giving patients early access to novel agents.

Achievements and Recognition: In the national tertiary hospital performance evaluation, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital ranks 3rd among all cancer specialty hospitals in China, having received the highest grade (A) for six consecutive years. On the Fudan Hospital Rankings for oncology, it has ranked in the national top 10 for 11-12 consecutive years — most recently at 7th — and 3rd in East China (behind only Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Shandong Cancer Hospital). In 2024, the hospital was awarded 59 National Natural Science Foundation grants, placing it among the top-funded cancer centers nationally. It is the designated National Heavy-Ion (Hangzhou) Clinical Treatment Research Center, hosts six provincial key laboratories, and maintains a biospecimen bank with storage capacity for nearly 10 million samples — one of the largest oncology biobanks worldwide.

International Services: The hospital operates an International Medical Service Center at the Banshan campus, providing English-speaking care coordinators, expedited diagnostic pathways, and VIP inpatient wards. The heavy-ion therapy program, in particular, attracts international inquiries given the global scarcity of this technology. The hospital's multi-disciplinary team (MDT) model — where international patients can have their case reviewed by a tumor board of surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists in a single visit — mirrors the standard of care at top Western cancer centers. International insurance direct billing is available with select carriers, and the hospital's international liaison office can assist with medical visa documentation and accommodation arrangements.

Why Choose Zhejiang Cancer Hospital: For international cancer patients, this hospital offers a rare intersection of three compelling factors: elite national ranking (top-7 oncology for over a decade), access to heavy-ion therapy (one of fewer than 15 such facilities globally), and Hangzhou's livability. Patients with gastric cancer, head & neck tumors, thoracic malignancies, or breast cancer will find disease-specific integrated teams that match the best in Asia. For cases requiring heavy-ion or proton-level precision radiotherapy that is unavailable or prohibitively expensive at home, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital is one of the few destinations worldwide with this capability at Chinese pricing.