Tributes paid to Sun Yan, the 'founder' of medical oncology in China

Tributes have been paid to Professor Sun Yan, a pioneer of clinical oncology in China, who died on January 24, 2026 at the age of 97.

Sun Yan was the director of Internal Medicine at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing for many years and served as the director of the Clinical Research Center for New Drugs.

According to the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Sun Yan became one of the founders of medical oncology treatment in China when he was appointed to work with surgeons and radiation therapy specialists at Beijing’s Ritan Hospital in the 1960s.

The Academy said Professor Sun took the lead in advocating the concept of comprehensive cancer treatment, took the lead in the research and development and clinical trials of novel oncology drugs in China, and actively explored the path of integrated Chinese and Western medicine for prevention and treatment. During his time as head of the oncology department he led nearly 80 clinical trials, and trained more than a thousand oncology internal medicine specialists.

He participated in the development of more than 30 new drugs including N-formyl-lysosarcoma, ectinib, lanxanthene injection and recombinant human endostatin. Among these, the tyrosine kinase inhibitors ectinib was China’s first small molecule targeted anti-cancer drug with nationally independent intellectual property rights. Sun Yan also developed the Traditional Chinese Medicine product Zhenqi Righting to boost bone marrow and immune function as adjuvant treatment of cancer patients after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The success of the products boosted the local pharmaceutical industry in rural Gansu and lifted the Dingxi, area out of poverty.

A tribute article for Sun Yan was published by the Chinese Collaborative Professional Committee for Clinical Oncology (CSCO), for which Sun Yan was founder and Honorary Chairman. It noted that Sun Yan personally initiated the establishment of CSCO with the goal of promoting unity, pragmatism and collaboration in clinical oncology in China. Following his guidance, the Society now conducts in-depth exchanges and cooperation with international authoritative organisations such as ASCO and ESMO, assists in promoting the integration of international multicentre clinical research and promotes the continuous development of China’s anti-tumour drug research and development,

The Society has cultivated a large number of leading clinicians and created a backbone workforce active at the forefront of the Chinese oncology community.

Sun Yan was born in 1929 and graduated from Beijing Union Medical College in 1956. He joined Beijing Union Hospital in the same year. In 1959, he entered the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

At this time, when the field of solid tumour research in China was very limited, Sun Yan began to work with Zhou Jichang and other pioneers to create China’s first tumour chemotherapy group. Starting with five hospital beds, he built the first foundations of medical oncology in China.

In 1979 Professor Sun went to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States to study, and was later appointed as a visiting professor. He continued international collaborations, fostering strong links with professional groups such as ASCO, whose annual meetings he attended on a regular basis to provide updates on oncology in China.

In the 1980s, Professor Sun tackled the lack of standardised standards in the field of clinical trials of new anti-cancer drugs in China. As the director of the National Clinical Research Center for New Drugs (Antitumour Drugs), he led the formation of a professional review team, drafting the first edition of the “Clinical Research Specifications for New Antitumour Drugs”, and delineated the regulations for clinical trials of new drugs, with a priority on ensuring patient safety.

In the 1990s he continued to develop a workforce of new oncology drug R&D personnel and clinicians, and to promote an anti-tumor drug clinical trial quality management specification (GCP) training course. At the same time he was at the international forefront of clinical trials of new anticancer drugs.

Professor Sun also led the collaborative efforts of a number of top hospitals across China to optimise combined chemotherapy regimens, with a focus on improving treatment and outcomes for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

“Your life was the most perfect interpretation of benevolence and benevolence and the sincerity of the great doctor,” said Dr Li Zhiming, director of the Department of Oncology at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a in a tribute article.

Professor Li highlighted Sun Yan’s leadership in the organisation of the national investigation of cancer causes of death, and his development of the first “Atlas of Malignant Tumours”, as well promoting the construction of a disciplinary system.

The Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences wrote in an article in memory of Sun Yan noting that he carefully nurtured younger colleagues and made outstanding scientific research achievements.

“Comrade Sun Yan’s life is a life of dedicated service to the cause of oncology medicine in our country,” it said.