Shanghai Children's Medical Center
A Grade 3A pediatric hospital in Pudong, Shanghai, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, jointly established in 1998 by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and Project HOPE (USA). SCMC was granted National Children's Medical Center status in 2017 and leads China's national pediatric cancer registry through the China Children's Cancer Registry, established in October 2018. The hospital is one of China's top pediatric facilities for congenital heart disease, pediatric hematology and oncology, neonatology and rare disease care, treating children up to 18 years of age.
About Shanghai Children's Medical Center
Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC, 上海交通大å¦åŒ»å¦é™¢é™„属上海市儿童医å¦ä¸å¿ƒ) is a Grade 3A pediatric hospital located in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The hospital was jointly established by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and Project HOPE (the United States-based health humanitarian organisation) and officially opened in 1998, with then-First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton attending the opening ceremony alongside Shanghai municipal leadership. Then-President Jiang Zemin inscribed the hospital's name. The hospital was originally prepared and constructed under the leadership of Xinhua Hospital (also affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine). SCMC was designated as a National Children's Medical Center by the Chinese government in 2017, recognising it as one of China's two national pediatric medical flagships (alongside Beijing Children's Hospital). On the hospital's 20th anniversary in May 2018, then-President Donald Trump and the First Lady of the United States sent a congratulatory letter.
SCMC operates from its main campus at 1678 Dongfang Road in Pudong New Area, with the hospital occupying approximately 17 acres (100 mu / 66,667 square metres) at a total investment exceeding 600 million yuan at the time of construction. The hospital has a capacity of approximately 500 designated medical beds, integrating pediatric medical care, scientific research, education and disease prevention for children up to 18 years of age. SCMC is internationally recognised for three core clinical strengths: pediatric congenital heart disease (where the hospital's surgical programme is among the highest-volume and most experienced in Asia), pediatric hematology and oncology, and developmental behavioural pediatrics. The hospital additionally provides specialist care across neonatology and NICU, pediatric surgery, respiratory medicine, pediatric nephrology, and rare and genetic metabolic disease care, supported by 24-hour pediatric emergency services.
In pediatric hematology and oncology specifically, SCMC houses the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Key Laboratory under the National Health Commission, directed by Dr Tang Jingyan, alongside the Key Laboratory for Children's Hematological Tumors. The hospital leads China's national pediatric cancer registry — the China Children's Cancer Registry initiated in October 2018, which requires nearly 600 designated hospitals across China to register all newly diagnosed pediatric leukaemia cases. Dr Shuhong Shen at SCMC manages the registry. The hospital has built foreign-cooperated multi-centre clinical research systems including the Chinese Children's Tumor (Leukemia) Clinical Multi-centre Research Group and academic exchange systems with the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Children's National Medical Center (Washington DC), and Japanese National Center for Child Health and Development, alongside the Chinese, American and Japanese Children's Medical Center Annual Academic Exchange System. Standard pediatric leukaemia treatment protocols at SCMC reportedly cost in the range of 80,000 to 100,000 yuan (approximately US$11,600 to US$14,500) per protocol cycle — among the most affordable comprehensive childhood leukaemia care available globally.
CancerFax works with international and Indian families considering Shanghai Children's Medical Center primarily for childhood haematological malignancies (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia, paediatric lymphoma) and paediatric solid tumours where SCMC's national flagship status, multi-centre clinical research participation and registry leadership make it a credible destination for complex paediatric oncology cases. We help families understand whether SCMC is the right clinical fit alongside other established CancerFax pediatric pathways including Nanfang-Chunfu Children's Institute of Hematology & Oncology in Dongguan (world-leading thalassemia HSCT outcomes), Shenzhen Children's Hospital (general pediatric tertiary, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology ranked #4 nationally), and Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital (pediatric CAR T-cell therapy access including CD7 CAR-T for T-ALL and Tαβ+ Cell-Depleted haploidentical HSCT pathways). Our coordination service is free to the patient and covers preliminary case review, Chinese visa documentation for the child and accompanying family, accommodation guidance in Pudong Shanghai, accredited Chinese-English translation of paediatric pathology, bone marrow biopsy findings, flow cytometry and prior treatment summaries, and where useful honest comparative assessment before any travel commitment.
| Hospital at a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Country | China |
| City | Shanghai (Pudong New Area, main campus at 1678 Dongfang Road) |
| Established | 1998 (officially opened); program designed from 1989 with Project HOPE cooperation |
| Hospital Type | Grade 3A Pediatric Specialty Hospital · National Children's Medical Center (designated 2017) · University Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine |
| Accreditation | Grade 3, Class A (三级甲ç‰) — China's highest hospital classification; âš VERIFY: Specific JCI accreditation status of SCMC with the International Patient Service before publishing |
| Beds | Approximately 500 designated medical beds across a 17-acre (100 mu) campus; âš VERIFY: current operational bed count and pediatric oncology / BMT-specific bed capacity with the hospital |
| Annual Patient Activity | âš VERIFY: Specific annual pediatric patient and pediatric oncology volume with the hospital; serves children up to 18 years of age with 24-hour pediatric emergency department |
| Research Focus | Pediatric congenital heart disease (Asia's highest-volume); pediatric hematology and oncology (Key Laboratory under National Health Commission); leads China Children's Cancer Registry (October 2018 onwards); rare disease and genetic metabolic disorders; pediatric BMT and bone marrow stem cell transplantation for high-risk leukaemia |
Why Patients Choose Shanghai Children's Medical Center
SCMC combines national flagship status as one of only two designated National Children's Medical Centers in China, internationally recognised pediatric hematology and oncology leadership including stewardship of the country's national pediatric cancer registry, Project HOPE founding heritage with active US-China-Japan academic exchange, and Shanghai's gateway-city accessibility for international paediatric families.
Pediatric Specialties and Clinical Departments
SCMC delivers comprehensive pediatric specialist care, with three nationally recognised core strengths in pediatric congenital heart disease, pediatric hematology and oncology, and developmental behavioural pediatrics, supported by deep pediatric subspecialty coverage across surgery, neonatology, respiratory medicine and rare disease care.
Advanced Treatment Capabilities
Key Specialists at Shanghai Children's Medical Center
SCMC's pediatric oncology and haematology leadership is anchored by Dr Tang Jingyan, Director of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Key Laboratory under the National Health Commission — a nationally recognised paediatric oncologist whose laboratory leads China's pediatric hematology and oncology research agenda. Dr Shuhong Shen at SCMC manages the China Children's Cancer Registry, the country's national pediatric leukaemia case registration system covering nearly 600 designated hospitals across China. The hospital's broader pediatric oncology faculty is internationally connected through long-standing collaboration with Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC, the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the Japanese National Center for Child Health and Development, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital — Dr Ching-Hon Pui from St. Jude has been described by former Chinese Health Minister Zhu Chen as having introduced the most advanced leukaemia treatment protocols to China.
Patient care at SCMC is structured through pediatric multidisciplinary tumour board protocols, bringing together pediatric haematologists, oncologists, surgeons, transplant specialists, radiologists, pathologists, geneticists and supportive care teams for each complex pediatric case. International patients access SCMC's pediatric specialty services through the hospital's International Patient Service ([email protected]), with English-language coordination available. Patients seeking specific physician consultations or focused pediatric multidisciplinary second opinions can submit their request through CancerFax — we work with SCMC to confirm in advance which named senior consultant will be assigned to the case, and we will openly discuss whether parallel review at Nanfang-Chunfu Children's Institute (Dongguan, for thalassemia HSCT), Shenzhen Children's Hospital (broader pediatric oncology in the Greater Bay Area), Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital (pediatric CAR T-cell therapy and Tαβ+ Cell-Depleted haploidentical HSCT pathways), or international centres including St. Jude may also be useful before any travel commitment.
Patients seeking specific physician consultations or second opinions may request a review through the CancerFax coordination process before confirming travel or admission.
Clinical Infrastructure and Treatment Technology
SCMC operates a 17-acre Pudong campus with approximately 500 designated medical beds, integrating pediatric medical care, scientific research, education and disease prevention infrastructure, with national-flagship paediatric haematology and oncology laboratories and active Chinese-American-Japanese research collaboration systems.
- Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Key Laboratory under the National Health Commission (Director: Dr Tang Jingyan)
- Key Laboratory for Children's Hematological Tumors
- Stewardship of the China Children's Cancer Registry (since October 2018), covering nearly 600 designated hospitals across China
- Pediatric bone marrow stem cell transplantation for high-risk pediatric leukaemia and other haematological malignancies
- Pediatric surgical oncology supported by the hospital's broader pediatric surgery infrastructure
- âš VERIFY: specific pediatric HSCT volume, donor matching pathways and post-transplant isolation room capacity with the hospital
- Comprehensive pediatric diagnostic imaging including pediatric-adapted PET-CT, MRI and CT protocols
- Molecular and cytogenetic profiling for paediatric leukaemia risk stratification through national laboratory infrastructure
- Chinese Children's Tumor (Leukemia) Clinical Multi-centre Research Group participation and leadership; foreign-cooperated multi-centre clinical research systems with NICHD, Children's National Medical Center (DC), and Japanese National Center for Child Health and Development
- 17-acre (100 mu / 66,667 square metre) main campus in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, total construction investment exceeding 600 million yuan
- Approximately 500 designated medical beds with 24-hour pediatric emergency department and dedicated pediatric ICU/NICU infrastructure
- Pediatric subspecialty integration with cardiology, cardiac surgery, neonatology, respiratory medicine, nephrology, rare disease care, and developmental behavioural pediatrics
International Patient Support at Shanghai Children's Medical Center
SCMC operates a dedicated International Patient Service ([email protected], +86 21-3862-6948 / 21-3862-6141) for paediatric patients travelling from outside China, supported by Shanghai's gateway-city advantages including two major international airports, expatriate-friendly infrastructure and broad Chinese visa convenience including 240-hour visa-free transit for eligible nationalities.
What to Prepare Before Traveling
- arrow_rightShare the child's complete paediatric haematology and oncology records — including pathology, bone marrow biopsy and aspirate findings, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, recent imaging (CT, PET-CT, MRI), molecular profiling, prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy treatment summaries, complete transfusion history if relevant, and current medication list (in English or Chinese) — with CancerFax at least two to three weeks before any planned SCMC consultation. For pediatric HSCT candidates, also share donor evaluation results and HLA typing.
- arrow_rightApply for appropriate Chinese visas (M for medical for the patient, with M or L for accompanying parents and any donor parent for haploidentical HSCT) at your nearest Chinese consulate. SCMC can issue official invitation letters for the patient, accompanying family and donor; many South and Southeast Asian, MENA and CIS countries have e-visa or visa-on-arrival options for short stays in mainland China. Real-name registration is mandatory at SCMC — bring the child's original valid passport or other valid identification document.
- arrow_rightPlan travel via Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) or Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA), with accommodation guidance near the SCMC main campus at 1678 Dongfang Road in Pudong New Area. Allow at least one to two weeks for an initial pediatric oncology consultation, multidisciplinary tumour board review and treatment planning, with longer stays of several months for pediatric BMT including pre-transplant conditioning, transplant and acute post-transplant recovery, or for full chemotherapy protocol completion (typically 6-cycle treatment for paediatric leukaemia).
SCMC can be contacted directly through the International Patient Service at [email protected] or by phone at +86 21-3862-6948 / 21-3862-6141 (Monday to Friday 08:00-19:30; weekends 08:00-16:30). The hospital direct line is +86 21-38626161. The official website is scmc.com.cn. CancerFax coordinates all communication on the family's behalf in Mandarin Chinese, manages translation, visa and travel arrangements for both the paediatric patient and accompanying family, conducts comparative assessment with alternative paediatric pathways, and remains the single point of contact through treatment and follow-up at no cost to the family.
Patient Facilities and Accommodation at SCMC
SCMC operates a 17-acre Pudong campus with approximately 500 designated medical beds, dedicated paediatric inpatient infrastructure, 24-hour paediatric emergency department, and the expatriate-friendly accommodation infrastructure of central Pudong Shanghai surrounding the main hospital site.
Family members accompanying paediatric patients should plan for extended stays — pediatric leukaemia chemotherapy typically requires a 6-cycle protocol over several months, and pediatric BMT requires 3 to 6 months including pre-transplant conditioning, transplant, engraftment and acute post-transplant recovery. Shanghai is China's most internationally connected city with extensive expatriate-friendly accommodation in Pudong (including Lujiazui, Jinqiao and Zhangjiang neighbourhoods near the SCMC campus). For these extended periods, CancerFax can help plan budget-conscious longer-term serviced apartment options that are typically more cost-effective than nightly hotel rates over multi-month stays.
How to Reach Shanghai Children's Medical Center
SCMC's main campus is located at 1678 Dongfang Road in Pudong New Area, Shanghai — China's most internationally connected city, served by two major international airports and an extensive metro network.
How CancerFax Helps
CancerFax is a specialist cancer access and patient-navigation platform. We help patients and families understand their options, organise medical records, coordinate hospital communication, and support cross-border treatment planning where appropriate.
We help collect and organise reports, scans, pathology, biomarker results, and treatment history for structured case review.
We communicate with hospitals or trial teams to assess whether a case may be suitable for further screening.
We support appointment coordination, document submission, translation, and direct communication with international departments.
For international patients, we help with practical coordination — travel planning, hospital admission guidance, and local support.
If this option is not suitable, we help explore other relevant treatments, clinical trials, or advanced care pathways.
From inquiry through to follow-up, our coordinators provide a single point of contact for the family.
CancerFax does not guarantee treatment access, eligibility, or clinical outcome. Our role is to help patients access accurate information, structured review, and appropriate specialist pathways.
Shanghai Children's Medical Center — Patient Questions Answered
CancerFax acts as your single Mandarin-speaking coordinator for the entire SCMC journey. You begin by sharing your child's complete paediatric haematology and oncology records — pathology, bone marrow biopsy and aspirate findings, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, recent imaging, molecular profiling, prior chemotherapy and treatment summaries, and current medication list — through our secure intake. Our clinical team reviews the case and identifies whether SCMC is the right paediatric flagship for your child's specific diagnosis, taking into account the hospital's national-level leadership in pediatric ALL, AML and other paediatric leukaemia care, alongside its strong programmes in paediatric solid tumours, BMT and complex paediatric multidisciplinary care.
Once your consultation is confirmed, CancerFax prepares your full pre-travel pack: the hospital's official cost estimate translated into English (shared with you without any CancerFax mark-up — standard pediatric leukaemia protocols at SCMC have historically been reported in the range of 80,000 to 100,000 yuan per protocol), Chinese visa documentation for the child and accompanying parents (plus any donor parent for haploidentical BMT), accredited Chinese-English translation of your home-country reports, accommodation guidance in Pudong Shanghai near the SCMC campus for the typical 6-cycle paediatric leukaemia protocol or 3 to 6 month BMT stay, and travel logistics via Shanghai's two international airports. We remain your single point of contact through admission, treatment, in-patient stay and follow-up. Where useful, we will openly compare SCMC alongside Nanfang-Chunfu Children's Institute (Dongguan, for thalassemia HSCT specifically), Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital (pediatric CAR T-cell therapy and Tαβ+ Cell-Depleted haploidentical HSCT pathways), and international centres including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital before any travel commitment. There is no fee to the family for any of this coordination.
SCMC is one of two designated National Children's Medical Centers in China (alongside Beijing Children's Hospital) and leads China's national pediatric cancer registry, which gives it a particular institutional positioning at the centre of Chinese paediatric oncology infrastructure. For paediatric ALL, AML and other paediatric leukaemias, SCMC's national flagship status, registry stewardship and multi-centre research participation make it a credible destination. CancerFax's portfolio includes three other Chinese pediatric pathways with distinct strengths: (i) Nanfang-Chunfu Children's Institute of Hematology & Oncology (Dongguan) — the institute reports a 97.6% overall survival outcome for thalassemia HSCT (described as the world's best for this condition) and 69.89% haploidentical HSCT volume, making it the right pathway specifically for transfusion-dependent thalassemia families; (ii) Shenzhen Children's Hospital — general pediatric tertiary with Pediatric Hematology/Oncology ranked #4 nationally and #1 in Guangdong, in the Greater Bay Area; and (iii) Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital — world's highest-volume CAR T-cell therapy centre with 4,000+ CAR-T cases and 30 different CAR-T targets including CD7 for T-cell ALL, accepting pediatric patients. CancerFax routes each pediatric case to the right Chinese pediatric centre based on diagnosis.
Standard pediatric leukaemia treatment protocols at SCMC have been publicly reported in the range of 80,000 to 100,000 yuan (approximately US$11,600 to US$14,500) per protocol cycle, making comprehensive childhood leukaemia care at a Chinese national flagship pediatric oncology centre meaningfully more affordable than equivalent care in Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom or Western Europe — often by a factor of five to ten or more. These figures are illustrative for standard chemotherapy-based pediatric leukaemia protocols; pediatric BMT, advanced therapy, complication management and extended supportive care add further cost. CancerFax shares SCMC's official cost estimates with you at no extra charge and without any CancerFax mark-up. We always recommend asking for a 'complication contingency' estimate alongside the base protocol cost, because cytokine release management, infection management and extended supportive care can add meaningfully to pediatric cancer total costs. ⚠VERIFY: Specific current international patient pricing with SCMC's International Patient Service, as published figures may apply to Chinese domestic protocols and international patient pricing may differ.
Yes. SCMC accepts foreign-language paediatric haematology and oncology records and provides written opinions before any travel commitment, particularly for paediatric leukaemia cases where the entire treatment plan can largely be assessed from records alone — bone marrow biopsy and aspirate findings, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular profiling and prior treatment history. The process involves submitting your child's records through the International Patient Service ([email protected]), which CancerFax facilitates on your behalf with accredited Chinese-English translation. SCMC's pediatric oncology team reviews the case and provides a written opinion covering treatment plan, transplant indication if applicable, eligibility for any ongoing multi-centre clinical research protocols relevant to the diagnosis, estimated cost and timeline. CancerFax can also arrange parallel remote second opinions from Nanfang-Chunfu (Dongguan, for thalassemia HSCT-eligible cases), Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Beijing GoBroad Boren (for CAR T-cell therapy eligibility), and international centres including St. Jude so the family can make a well-informed decision before committing to international travel.
China's paediatric CAR T-cell therapy ecosystem is concentrated at a small number of specialised centres, with Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital being the highest-volume centre globally with 4,000+ CAR-T cases between June 2017 and March 2024, 30 different CAR-T targets, and active CD7 CAR-T programmes for paediatric T-cell ALL. ⚠VERIFY: SCMC's specific pediatric CAR T-cell therapy programme, available CAR-T constructs, eligibility criteria and current waiting times with the International Patient Service before any clinical commitment — while SCMC's National Children's Medical Center status, multi-centre research leadership and Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Key Laboratory infrastructure suggest active engagement in cellular therapy research, the highest-volume clinical CAR-T pathway for paediatric patients in CancerFax's portfolio remains Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital. For paediatric ALL, AML and non-CAR-T-dependent paediatric leukaemia care, SCMC is one of China's strongest national-flagship destinations regardless of CAR-T programme scale.
Send Your Child's Medical Reports to Shanghai Children's Medical Center via CancerFax
CancerFax reviews your child's records, assesses whether SCMC's National Children's Medical Center designation, pediatric oncology programmes and national registry leadership are the right clinical fit for your case, compares SCMC alongside parallel paediatric pathways at Nanfang-Chunfu, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Beijing GoBroad Boren and international centres, and coordinates your consultation or remote second opinion in Shanghai at no cost, with no obligation, and with full medical confidentiality throughout.