24th November 2008, Dr. Niu Lizhi and I flew to Tokyo to attend the 35th International Annual Assembly of Low Temperature Medicines organized by the Japan Society for Low Temperature Medicines (JSLTM). The society was established in 1974 and has a membership base of more than a thousand of low temperature medicines practitioners. Its founder, Dr. Sumida, was also one of the founders for the International Cryosurgery Society. The Japan Society of Low Temperature Medicines holds its general assembly annually; it is attended by participants from dozens of countries around the world. This was the first time we were invited to the general assembly. We had furnished the assembly with six papers, three of which would be delivered during the assembly. Upon arrival at the assembly, we learnt that a gold award would be presented during each annual assembly. For all the past decades, the gold awards were awarded to participants from Europe, the United States and Japan. We dared not think of the possibility for any Chinese being awarded with the gold award however, we were full of anticipation.
Dr. Niu Lizhi and I were the third and fifth speakers respectively. Dr. Niu presented his paper on percutaneous cryosurgery for lung cancer and liver cancer. Later, I went up the stage to report on cryoablation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer, cryosurgery-induced response, post-treatment survival rate and the emergence of side effects. When I was displaying several CT images of tumors before and after treatment, suddenly there was a round of loud applause from the participants. I was greatly surprised since normally, it was very rare to have applause in an academic session, “Is there any error in my report?” I asked myself. I recollected myself and looked at the audience; I found out that it was Professor Korpan from Austria who led the applause and he was exclaiming that, “Dr. Xu, very great!” I was greatly relieved; this was truly applause of praises and compliment.
Professor Korpan is the earliest scholar who proposes to use cryoablation for the treatment of cancer. In his 2002 book entitled “Basics of Cryosurgery”, he put forward his view that: In view of the low resection rate for pancreatic cancer, it is recommended to apply cryoablation instead of conventional surgery. However, he did not list down any specific cases nor did he mention on percutaneous cryoablation.
I was very grateful to Professor Korpan as it was he whom we got the inspiration to use cryosurgery for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. I gave impromptu words of thanks to Professor Korpan and requested the assembly chairman for a time extension of two minutes to finish my speech as the applause had delayed my speech delivery. He cheerfully agreed to my request. When my report was concluded, the audience burst into another round of applause.
That evening, the General Assembly held a welcome banquet. Just as my friends and I were enjoying the delicious food and talking to one another, suddenly I heard someone calling “Professor Xu!” Dr. Niu instantly reminded me that I had been requested to speak on behalf of all the foreign participants.
On the third day morning, I accompanied Dr. Niu to go walking in Ginza as this was the first time he came to Japan and the meeting reports on that morning had little to do with us. Before we left, the assembly chairman reminded me to make sure that I would come back in the afternoon. The closing ceremony was held at 5p.m. The assembly chairman made a brief summary of the general assembly and then announced, “After a secret ballot by the panel of five independent judges, this year’s gold award goes to Dr. Xu Kecheng of China!” I thought I had heard wrongly until Dr. Niu gave me a push. I went up to the podium quickly. The assembly chairman then solemnly presented me with the gold award certificate and cash reward. Following the presentation, I delivered my speech of acceptance and thanks.
That night, we returned to the hotel. My entire burden seemed to have been unloaded. We had realized our anticipation but I still felt it very hard to believe that I had won the gold award. We went to the hotel restaurant and ordered some steak and two bottles of beer for celebration.
We returned to Guangzhou on November 28th. It happened that a Pilipino patient with ovarian cancer was facing financial problem and was asking for financial aid from the hospital. I donated the whole amount of cash reward amounting to 100,000 yen I received to the Pilipino patient.
At the end of November 2010, Dr. Niu and I participated in the 37th Annual Assembly of the Japan Society for Low Temperature Medicines. During the closing ceremony, we were very relaxed because we had won the gold award previously. We did not expect to secure the award again this year. As we were taking a casual look at the venue facilities, we suddenly heard the name of Dr. Niu Lizhi being called up - Dr. Niu had been awarded the President Award! This year there were three awards altogether – in addition to the Gold Award, there were another two President’s Awards. These two President’s Awards were won by Dr. Niu Lizhi and a scholar from Turkey. We were made to understand that it was rare in the history of the Japan Society for Low Temperature Medicines for the same organization to receive awards twice.