Page 8 - CUHK MEDICAL ALUMNI Newsletter Issue 2 Vol 9 2018

SPECIAL FEATURE ➊
07

Prestigious New England Journal of Medicine selects two studies by
CUHK researchers as among “10 Most Notable Articles of 2017”. We
spoke to the two Professors who led the studies to find out what
makes them tick.

“We are now really at the edge of converting some
of the cancers to chronic illnesses.”

- Professor Tony Mok Shu-kam
莫樹錦教授
Chairman, Department of Clinical Oncology
Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Professor of Clinical Oncology

The study also calls for lung cancer patients
to be continuously monitored on how the
cancer evolves in their bodies. Once the
disease progresses after first-line treatment, it
says, then further tests on mutation should be
considered in order to customise their treatment.
Professor Mok says he and his group are
encouraged that NEJM editors found their
study meaningful and they will strive
to further their contributions to lung
cancer treatment. Lung cancer is the
leading cause of cancer deaths in
he New England Journal of Medicine’s Hong Kong, with some 4,000 new
T “10 Most Notable Articles of 2017” cases reported each year.
included a research on lung cancer by Professor Mok’s contributions so far
Professor Tony Mok, Chairman of the in the cancer field have put CUHK’s
Department of Oncology of The Chinese Department of Clinical Oncology on
University of Hong Kong and Li Shu Fan the map. In fact, if not for certain turn
Professor of Clinical Oncology. In the study,
Professor Mok and his multinational team of events more than 20 years ago,
sought to find out the efficacy of osimertinib the now-famous oncologist would
as compared with platinum-based have still been in Canada.
therapy plus pemetrexed in patients with Professor Mok says he joined
non-small-cell lung cancer. CUHK “purely by chance”. He
had been visiting family in Hong
The study suggests that for patients whose Kong in 1996 and went to Prince
cancer had further mutated and developed of Wales Hospital to catch up
resistance after first-line epidermal
growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeted with a doctor he had met during
therapy, a new treatment could double an international conference. The
the progression free survival rate when next day, the doctor’s boss offered
compared with standard chemotherapy. Professor Mok a job. “Not that I
was any good but they needed a
“In other words, the impact of the study is Chinese-speaking oncologist and
that patients can have another chance to I happened to be just outside the
hope, just like in a video game. You play door,” he says.
one level, you crash but then you can get Professor Mok recalls that it took
another go. It’s the same with patients on
target therapy, you progress…and thnkkk!!! him two agonising weeks to decide.
You get another chance to carry on with If he joined CUHK, he would basically
another drug,” Professor Mok explains. have had to change his lifestyle