Dr. Lin Zhang is the chief medical doctor in Tongji hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology located in Wuhan, China. She gave an online lecture in the Tencent Meeting on Feb. 15, 2022. In Dr. Zhang’s lecture, we have learned about current diagnostic techniques, medication and prognosis of breast cancer and other breast conditions. The story that people have battled with breast cancer has inspired us to explore further in this field. We had interactive discussion from the basic biology of the disease, to ongoing medical innovation, to risk factors and prevention, and survivorship.

Professor Bifeng Yuan is the vice dean of school of public health of Wuhan University, China. He gave online lectures in the Tencent Meeting on Aug. 29, 2022 and another one early in 2021. Professor Yuan focuses on the analysis of the roles of epigenetic modifications, metabolomics, and nucleic acid damage and repair in cancer progression. His research provides us another direction to look into the occurrence of breast cancer. In contrast to genetics, epigenetics refers to the study of mechanisms that alter gene expression without altering the primary DNA sequence. It has been found that various epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, histone modification, miRNA expression, and higher order chromatin structure affect gene expression. In fact, the progression of breast cancer involves complex and multi-step process that incorporates an accumulation of not only genetic but also epigenetic alterations. External and internal cellular microenvironmental factors influence the occurrence of these alterations that may drives tumorigenesis