Research Areas

Department of Clinical Oncology

How do cancer cells evade attacks from the immune system?

How do cancer stem cells contribute to the transformation of normal tissue to malignant forms?

Major Research Areas

Clinical research:
Advanced radiotherapy techniques intensity modulated radiotherapy; stereotactic radiotherapy using tomotherapy, cyberknife and autosegmentation; nasopharyngeal carcinoma, especially its relationship with the Epstein Barr virus and immunotherapy including T cell treatment; multimodality treatment that aims at improving control and minimising side effects; multimodality treatment of brain tumours, colorectal, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, and thyroid cancer, and elucidation of related prognostic factors.

Identification and characterization of cancer-related genes:
Elucidation of the tumour pathogenesis and progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer, through the characterization of isolated oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes with recently-developed techniques, such as next-generation sequencing analysis. Functional assays are used to study the roles of candidate genes in cancer development and progression.

Contact Person(s)

Professor A.W.M. Lee
Tel: 2255 5050
Email: awmlee@hku.hk

Professor D.L.W. Kwong
Tel: 2255 4521
Email: dlwkwong@hku.hk

Professor S.F.M. Kong
Tel: 2255 5830
Email: kong0001@hku.hk

Professor X.Y. Guan
Tel: 3917 9782
Email: xyguan@hku.hk

Discovery and validation of candidate genes in nasopharyngeal and esophageal cancers:

  • Understanding the molecular genetic basis of human cancers through molecular, functional, and whole-genomic next-generation sequencing approaches to understand genetic susceptibility and molecular landscape of tumor development
  • Identification and validation of biomarkers in tissues and liquid biopsies for translation into clinical practice
  • Research opportunities for basic, translational, and clinical studies focused on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC)

Contact Person(s)

Professor M.L. Lung
Tel: 3917 9783
Email: mlilung@hku.hk

Chairman of Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee

Professor X.Y. Guan
Tel: 3917 9782
Email: xyguan@hku.hk