Department of Clinical Oncology

Professor Xin-yuan GUAN

關新元博士

PhD
Professor
Director, Laboratory of Cancer Genetics

E-mail: xyguan@hku.hk

 

Research Interest:

I have been working in cancer genetics field for more than twelve years. My previous research interests have evolved the full life cycle of cloning cancer-related gene including: cytogenetic study of solid tumors for detection of recurrent chromosome changes, development and application of Micro-FISH technique in cancer research, and isolation of candidate oncogenes from commonly amplified region in solid tumors.

My current research interests focus on the isolation of candidate oncogenes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and ovarian cancer (OC). DNA sequence amplification is an important mechanism affecting gene expression in a variety of human cancers. The overexpression of oncogenes has been shown to play an important part in the pathogenesis of various solid tumors, probably because overexpression of the amplified oncogene confers a growth advantage. My recent studies showed that the amplification of 1q21-q22 and 3q26 was detected in 70% HCC and 50% OC patients, respectively. A rapid and straightforward strategy, hybrid selection, has been applied to isolate candidate oncogenes by using microdissected region-specific DNA to isolate genes located within the commonly amplified region. Several candidate oncogenes have been isolated and further study of these genes is in progress.

 

Selected Publications:

1. Tang DJ, Hu L, Xie D, Wu QL, Fang Y, Zeng Y, Sham JS, Guan XY*. Oncogenic transformation by SEI-1 is associated with chromosomal instability. Cancer Res 2005;65:6504-8. (*corresponding author)
   
   
2. Tai ALS, Mak W, Ng PK, Chua DT, Ng MYM, Fu L, Chu KK, Fang Y, Song YQ, Chen M, Zhang M, Sham PC, Guan XY*. High-throughput loss-of-heterozygosity study of chromosome 3p in lung cancer using single-nucleotide polymorphism markers. Cancer Res 2006;66:4133-8.
   
   
3. Ma S, Chan KW, Hu L, Lee TK, Wo JY, Ng IO, Zheng BJ, Guan XY*. Identification and characterization of tumorigenic liver cancer stem/progenitor cells. Gastroenterology 2007;132:2542-56.
   
   
4. Fu L, Qin YR, Xie D, Hu L, Kwong DL, Sirvastava G, Tsao SW, Guan XY*. Characterization of a novel tumor suppressor gene PLC delta 1 at 3p22 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Res 2007;67:10720-6.
   
   
5. Ma NF, Hu L, Fung JM, Xie D, Zheng BJ, Chen L, Tang DJ, Fu L, Wu Z, Chen M, Fang Y, Guan XY*. Isolation and characterization of a novel oncogene, amplified in liver cancer 1, within a commonly amplified region at 1q21 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology 2008;47:503-510.
   
   
6. Ma S, Lee TK, Zheng BJ, Chan KW, Guan XY*. CD133+ HCC cancer stem cells confer chemoresistance by preferential expression of the Akt/PKB survival pathway. Oncogene 2008;27;1749-58.
   
   
7. Fung JM, Smith R, Brown MA, Lau SH, Xie D, Lau GK, Guan XY*. Identification and characterization of a novel melanoma tumor suppressor gene on human chromosome 6q21. Clin Cancer Res 2009;15:797-803.
   
   
8. Chen L, Hu L, Chan TH, Tsao GSW, Xie D, Huo KK, Fu L, Zheng BJ, Guan XY*. Chromodomain helicase/adenosine triphosphatase DNA binding protein 1-like (CHD1L) suppresses the nucleus-to-mitochondria translocation of Nur77 to sustain hepatocellular carcinoma cell survival. Hepatology 2009;50:122-9.
   
   
9. Zhang C, Fu L, Fu J, Hu L, Yang H, Rong TH, Li Y, Liu H, Fu SB, Zeng YX, Guan XY*. FGFR2-positive fibroblasts provide a suitable microenvironment for tumor development and progression in esophageal carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 2009;15:4017-27.
   
   
10. Zhu C, Qin YR, Xie D, Chua DT, Fung JM, Chen L, Fu L, Hu L, Guan XY*. Characterization of tumor suppressive function of P300/CBP-associated factor at frequently deleted region 3p24 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Oncogene 2009;28:2821-8.

 

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