Frontiers of Medicine is an international general medical journal sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China. The journal is jointly published by the Higher Education Press and Springer. Online versions are available through http://link.springer.com/. Since the first issue of 2010, this journal has been indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE. Frontiers of Medicine is dedicated to publishing original research and review articles on the latest advances in clinical and basic medicine with a focus on epidemiology, traditional Chinese medicine, translational research, healthcare, public health and health policies. The journal employs a rigorous peer-review and editing process to ensure the scientific accuracy, novelty and importance of the manuscripts. Frontiers of Medicine is committed to promoting health and health care through communications among professionals in medical care, disease prevention and scientific research throughout the world by updating the progress in medicine, sharing experiences in disease control and treatment and exchanging views on health policies, medical services and health care reform.