Page 10 - CUHK MEDICAL ALUMNI Newsletter Issue 2 Vol 9 2018

SPECIAL FEATURE ➋
- NEJM’s “10 MOST NOTABLE ARTICLES OF 2017”
09

“We have urgent need for individuals who are
both doctors as well as scientists…”

- Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming
盧煜明教授

Associate Dean (Research)
Chairman of the Department of Chemical Pathology
Professor of Chemical Pathology
Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences
Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine

ne of the CUHK studies, selected by the New England Journal of
OMedicine, was led by Professor Dennis Lo and Professor Allen Chan.
The study centres on how nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) could be
detected early with the help of plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA.
Professor Lo, who is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute
of Health Sciences and Chairman of CUHK’s Department
of Chemical Pathology, has been a recipient of numerous
accolades and he says: “My team and I are very
encouraged that the New England Journal of Medicine
mentioned our studies. It shows the significance and
importance of this work to healthcare.”
Professor Lo says the study demonstrates the
potential of circulating DNA analysis for screening
early NPC and this cancer was chosen because it
is very common in southern China. “NPC typically
affects Chinese men between the ages of 40 and 60.
If you are a Cantonese man in Hong Kong, your risk of
having this cancer is about 1 to 39,” he explains. “One
of my best friends succumbed to this cancer when he
was in his late thirties. This is a cruel disease that affects
many patients in their most productive years.”
NPC is common in south China because of an interaction
between the Epstein-Barr virus, genetics and dietary habits.
“Epidemiological evidence has shown that people exposed
to salted fish before the age of eight have a higher chance of
having this cancer,” says Professor Lo.
This quest for a blood test for NPC, which started in 1999, took
nearly 20 years to get to this stage. Professor Lo is hoping other
types of cancers can be spotted early using such circulating
DNA blood tests.
Professor Lo began taking an interest in medicine in his teens after watching his father rehearse for conference talks. “During these
rehearsals, my brother and I were exposed to long funny words because my father was a psychiatrist and so he talked about terms like
schizophrenia. He used to travel to exotic places like Egypt and it made me think…well, this is interesting…to have a career like that.”
He also helped his father make photographic slides for his presentations. “We didn’t have any PowerPoint presentations at the time
and since I liked photography, I would help him by making slides using a camera and slide film.”

Looking at his numerous groundbreaking discoveries, it is mind-boggling to think that Professor Lo was anything but studious
when he was young. “I was actually a bit naughty in my younger days. I couldn’t sit still. In my early primary school years, whenever
the report card came out, I was ok academically, but for the bit about conduct, I always got C-minus," he laughingly recalls.
He believes his mischievous nature also didn’t get him a place in a co-ed school but was accepted into an all boys school -
St Joseph’s College. Eventually, after reaching Primary six he decided to hunker down and study really hard. He also started
reading science magazines. “I was fascinated by how science developed or how a scientist makes discoveries,” he recalls.