Huge public interest has been triggered in the treatment given to a young cancer patient who died after he learned about it from search engine giant Baidu.

Wei Zexi died from synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer of soft tissue, on April 12. He had been given immunotherapy.

Ying Jianming, deputy director of the Pathology Department at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Cancer Institute and Hospital, said immunotherapy is used to induce, strengthen or suppress an immune response to help fight diseases including cancer.