Zhang Tingdong (; born on November 8, 1932) is a Chinese

medical scientist Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

, and educator at Harbin Medical University, 1st affiliated Hospital, and is best known for discovering of using

arsenic trioxide Arsenic trioxide, sold under the brand name Trisenox among others, is an inorganic compound and medication. As an industrial chemical, whose major uses include in the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. As a medication, it ...

to treat

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, which is regarded as a significant breakthrough of anti-leukemia medicine in the 20th Century and improvement in the lives of people with leukemia.

Early life

Zhang was born November 8, 1932.

Education

In 1950, Zhang graduated from Harbin Medical University. In 1963, he earned a

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ever since, he has worked in the 1st Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, specializing in Hematology of Integrative of Chinese and Western Medicine

Career

In March 1971, Han Taiyun of the 1st Affiliated Hospital started to treat cancer patients with a formula he collected from traditional Chinese medicine doctors. It was presumably an oral formula, and contained a mixture of many ingredients, including arsenic chemicals,

mercury chloride Mercury chloride can refer to: *Mercury(II) chloride or mercuric chloride (HgCl2) *Mercury(I) chloride Mercury(I) chloride is the chemical compound with the formula Hg2Cl2. Also known as the mineral calomel (a rare mineral) or mercurous chloride, ...

, and

cinobufagin Cinobufagin is a cardiotoxic bufanolide steroid secreted by the Asiatic toad ''Bufo gargarizans''. It has similar effects to digitalis and is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Isolation and purification Cinobufagin, as well as other bufadie ...

venom toad. Later, Han Taiyun turned the formula into an injection form, called "713" "cancer spirit" administered by intramuscular injection. For certain tumors, it worked and became a local hit. But Han Taiyun gave it up because the formula was too toxic for some patients, with side effects including renal toxicity and hypertension. Zhang is a doctor of

Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

at First Clinical Hospital, affiliated with Harbin Medical University in Harbin, China. In 1972, Zhang picked up Han Taiyun's work or started to cooperate with Han Taiyun to continue working on this formula. Instead of working on many cancers, Zhang Tingdong focused mainly on leukemia. Also, instead of using a mixture of many ingredients, Zhang Tingdong tested each individual component of the formula. He found that while the arsenic component is effective against leukemia, mercury chloride and cinobufagin venom toad were not, and caused renal toxicity and high blood pressure respectively. Their first paper was published in 1973, attributed to Zhang Ting, Pengfei Zhang, Wang Shouren, Han Taiyn at the Heilongjiang medical reports. They used "cancer injection" (also called "1st cancer spirit") in the treatment of 6 cases of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. They used arsenic trioxide as the main ingredient, with some trace "pink powder (mercury chloride)". After the treatment, the 6 patients, including a chronic acute leukemia patient, experienced improved symptoms. They also mentioned that

is effective in treating acute leukemia.

Awards

* 2015 Outstanding Scientist Award. Presented by Hong Kong Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation.

References

External links

Top_five_medical_innovations_in_China_mainland_since_Xinhai_revolution_[1911
_results_of_AME_survey-002.html" ;"title="911">Top five medical innovations in China mainland since Xinhai revolution [1911
results of AME survey-002">911">Top five medical innovations in China mainland since Xinhai revolution [1911
results of AME survey-002
Zhang in nytimes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Tingdong 1932 births Chemists from Hebei Living people People from Cangzhou Harbin Medical University alumni Harbin Medical University faculty