On November 22-23, 2014, the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) held the Sino-French Symposium on Thoracic Oncology, gathering renowned experts from Gustave Roussy, Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue and Centre Jean Perrin in France as well as many institutions in China.
 
Twelve French speakers accompanied by some twenty of their Chinese counterparts, gave lectures divided on 7 sessions: Early Stage of NSCLC and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Multi-Disciplinary Treatment And Targeted Therapy In Lung Cancer, Oral Chemotherapy, New Drug therapy for NSCLC, Innovation in Thoracic Surgical Techniques and Treatment, Surgical Treatment on Trachea and Rare Thoracic Tumor, and Innovation Treatment in Thoracic Cancer. 
 
At the opening ceremony of the symposium, Doctor Benjamin Besse, representing Gustave Roussy, and Professor Olaf Mercier, representing Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Lanjun Zhang, Head of the Thoracic Surgery Department, opening a new road for Sino-French research and clinical advances in lung cancer.
 
Mr Bertrand Furno, Consul General of France in Guangzhou, Mr Beno?t Sevcik, Advisor for Social Affairs at the French Embassy in Beijing, Mr Christophe Bonté and Mrs Dora Courbon-Tavcar, representatives from the Scientific Division of the French Consulate in Guangzhou, also attended the event. 
  Gustave-Roussy is one of the world's leading cancer-research institutes and the biggest health center dedicated to oncology in Europe. Internationally renowned for its cutting-edge technology and its innovative therapy, Gustave Roussy is at the forefront in very promising areas such as personalized medicine and tomorrow’s therapies (immunotherapy, DNA repair inhibitors, and epigenetic modulators).
 
The Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue is a non-profit organization specialized in Thoracic surgery and interventions(heart, lungs, major vessels, etc.) as well as a university teaching hospital ensuring cutting edge medical practices. Historically preeminent nationally and internationally in the treatment of adult and infant thoracic and cardiovascular pathologies, the CCML has always been at the edge of medical practice (First heart-lung transplant: June 1986, First double-lung transplant:1988, First pulmonary endarteriectomy: 1995, First total tracheal replacement using a vascularised, autologous fascio-cutaneous free-flap: 2007 (in collaboration with Dr. F. Kolb from Gustave Roussy).
 
The Centre Jean Perrin was created in 1973 and is one of the 20 anticancer centers open in France. The center offers multidisciplinary treatments such as imaging, biology and pathology, surgery,radiation therapy, medical treatment, supportive care, palliative care and works together with the University Hospital on education and research matters.