Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma From Etiology to Clinical Practice

Prof. Lee is currently the Clinical Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong, and she is also the Chief of Service for the Center of Clinical Oncology at The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital. She serves in many international academic organizations, including being the Board of Directors for the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the Coordinator of the Global Advisory Group for UICC, as well as the Vice-Chairman of the National Cancer Staging Committee of China. She has extensive publications in leading scientific journals focusing on various aspects of NPC research. She is also the recipient of many awards and honours from all over the world for her contributions to cancer research including the Sir Patrick Manson Gold Medal by The University of Hong Kong; Gilbert Fletcher Distinguished Professor Lecturer by The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Honorary Membership by the European Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO); Honorary Membership by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA); and Wharton Lecturer by The University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Hospital, Canada.

Prof. Lung is currently the Chair Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong. She is also the Director of the Area of Excellence Center for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Research and the Laboratory of Cancer Molecular Genomics. She has been studying the contributions of host genetics and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection to the development of the cancer. She published extensively on EBV genotypes associated with NPC. Her early studies on the molecular genetic basis of NPC utilized functional approaches to complement defects in NPC cell lines, resulting in identification of critical regions and then candidate tumor suppressor genes contributing to the development of these tumors. More recently, using next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches, she has contributed to our understanding of the basis for genetic susceptibility to NPC in familial and early-age onset cases. Whole-exome sequencing was also utilized to determine the molecular landscape of genetic alterations in NPC. She is currently the Director of an Area of Excellence group grant that established a Center for NPC Research focusing on basic, translational, and clinical research. This AoE grant includes several universities and public hospitals and basic, translational, and clinical research efforts focus on the importance of NPC in Hong Kong. She is also the Founding Co-Chair of the Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Gordon Research Conference that hosts international meetings on different aspects of NPC every other year. Her international stature in NPC research is well-established as evidenced by her invitations to NPC meetings and as a guest editor for the April 2012 Seminars in Cancer Biology issue on “Unlocking the Rosetta stone enigma for NPC: genetics, viral infection, and other environmental factors.”

Dr. Ng is currently a consultant at the Department of Clinical Oncology, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and an honorary associate professor at the Department of Clinical Oncology, University of Hong Kong. He is one of the council members of Hong Kong Nasopharyngeal Study Group and was the past president of Hong Kong Head and Neck Society. He has extensive publications in leading scientific journals focusing on various aspects of NPC research. He serves on the editorial board of the several cancer related journals and is a member of TNM Expert Advisory Panel on Head and Neck Cancers for the UICC.