The last treatment before the college entrance examination, Xiao Luo and Chief Physician Huang Deliang fist-bumped and agreed to prepare for the exam with all their strength.

In mid-July, Xiao Luo (pseudonym) and his mother once again returned to the minimally invasive interventional ward on the 6th floor of Guangzhou Royal Li Cancer Hospital.

Two months ago, Xiao Luo completed his fourth interventional procedure here and immediately returned home to prepare for the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination). Chief Physician Huang Deliang's fist-pump, the nurses' encouraging words...it seemed like just yesterday, yet it also seemed like a century ago.

Today, Xiao Luo returned home with a gift—a college entrance exam score of 550. He looked forward to sharing the good news with the medical staff the moment the results were announced. Unbeknownst to Xiao Luo, Chief Physician Huang Deliang's team had also prepared a special gift for him.

 

Osteosarcoma, amputation, lung metastasis:

15-year-old boy was hit twice

Youth is the season of hope

In the summer of 2019, 15-year-old Xiao Luo, still growing rapidly, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma due to knee pain. Combined with neoadjuvant therapy, the tumor shrank from 9.6 cm to 5.1 cm, but the hope of limb salvage was slim.

In October of that year, Xiao Luo and his family signed the consent form for surgery. The young man, once an active basketball player, now had a prosthetic limb and began traveling between two provinces, studying, undergoing chemotherapy, and undergoing follow-up examinations.

In 2023, during the summer vacation of his freshman year in high school, another blow struck: a follow-up CT scan revealed a metastatic lesion in his left lung. Xiao Luo once again faced the challenge and began a year of targeted therapy.

Oral ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea...adverse reactions came one after another, and Xiao Luo, who was in the critical period of his second year of high school, was exhausted both physically and mentally.

However, my first real sense of helplessness came a year later when a CT scan revealed a solid mass in the left lower lobe of my lung, slightly larger than before. In other words, a year of excruciating pain hadn't subdued the mass.

Four precise interventions:

Paving the way for young people to prepare for the exam

Youth is the season of hope

Xiao Luo was at a loss. "If you study hard, your grades will improve. But being sick is different. I try to endure it, but I don't know what will happen to me."

With his final year of high school approaching, Xiao Luo was determined to prepare for the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination). However, the adverse effects of his treatment continued to plague him, prompting his parents to once again seek medical help.

After making inquiries from many sources, she learned about the advantages of minimally invasive interventional surgery and consulted the local hospital. Then, her mother accompanied Xiao Luo to Guangzhou Royal Li Cancer Hospital, knocked on the door of the minimally invasive interventional clinic, and sought treatment from Chief Physician Huang Deliang's team.

In December 2024 and January 2025, "DSA-guided intra-arterial chemoembolization" was successfully performed to accurately deliver drugs to lung metastases; in February, "CT-guided microwave ablation of secondary malignant tumors of the lung" was performed to accurately "burn" tumor cells through the thermal effect of microwaves.

"We can be discharged from the hospital the next day after the intervention, which saves some time. Apart from a slight fever, there are no obvious reactions." Xiao Luo recalled the treatment in the second semester of his senior year. The unique low toxicity and side effects of the interventional surgery are particularly important to him as he is preparing for the exam.

Doctors and patients both submit answers:

550 high scores to enter a prestigious university; efficacy evaluation close to CR

Youth is the season of hope

Xiao Luo wore glasses, his eyes gleaming with sincerity, a youthful brilliance all his own. The medical staff in the minimally invasive interventional department paid even more attention to this high school senior.

After every surgery, he would hear Dr. Huang Deliang's resolute words, "You will definitely get better!" At the end of each day's care, he would be greeted by the nurses' cheers and smiles. And every time he went to the doctor's office, his mother was always there with him. All of these things, like fresh, healthy cells, infused Xiao Luo with confidence and vitality.

After the college entrance examination, Xiao Luo returned to the hospital for a follow-up examination and received good news that was even more exciting than the high score - the CT scan showed that the oligometastatic lesions in the right lung were smaller than before, with obvious internal necrosis and no enhancement, and the efficacy assessment was close to CR.

When the college entrance examination score was fixed at 550 points, the key line for admission to key universities, and when the CT report showed that the tumor activity had almost disappeared - these two heavy answer sheets were the result of Xiao Luo's persistence in running on one leg for six years, and the tacit understanding he had with Chief Physician Huang Deliang's team in meticulous work on the tip of the interventional catheter, and were also the true expression of the resilience of life.