Dr Alvin Cheung is an anatomical pathologist whose work focuses on the molecular basis of lung cancer and the development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat cancer patients. Alvin was graduated at the University of Hong Kong and entered pathology because he believes that cellular pathology is at the frontier of medicine and an understanding of diseases may be the key to relieve human suffering in the ward. He received overseas research training at the University of Pittsburgh in 2010, and underwent genomic pathology training as a visiting scientist at the TRACERx consortium in 2022-23. Working in Professor K.F. To’s team, Alvin completed his PhD and continues to dedicate his work on clinical diagnostic services and lung cancer research. He also supervises research for master of science students, and serves as invited reviewer for peer-review journals such as Gut and Pathology.

 

Research Grants

 

Principle Investigator. HK$1,099,280. Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), Food and Health Bureau, The Government of the HKSAR, year 2022.

1. Cheung AHK, Wong KY, Chau SL, Xie F, Mui Z, Li GY, Li MS, Tong J, Ng CS, Mok TS, Wei K, To KF. SMARCA4 deficiency and mutations are frequent in large cell lung carcinoma and are prognostically significant. Pathology. 2024

2. Fu K, Cheung AHK, Wong CC, Liu W, Zhou Y, Wang F, Huang P, Yuan K, Coker OO, Pan Y, Chen D, Lam NM, Gao M, Zhang X, Huang H, To KF, Sung JJY, Yu J. Streptococcus anginosus promotes gastric inflammation, atrophy, and tumorigenesis in mice. Cell. 2024 Jan 22:S0092-8674(24).

3. Pan X, AbdulJabbar K, Coelho-Lima J, Grapa AI, Zhang H, Cheung AHK, Baena J, Karasaki T, Wilson CR, Sereno M, Veeriah S, Aitken SJ, Hackshaw A, Nicholson AG, Jamal-Hanjani M; TRACERx Consortium; Swanton C, Yuan Y, Le Quesne J, Moore DA. The artificial intelligence-based model ANORAK improves histopathological grading of lung adenocarcinoma. Nature Cancer. 2024 Jan 10. doi: 10.1038/s43018-023-00694-w.

4. Cheung AHK, Wong KY, et al. MLK4 promotes glucose metabolism in lung adenocarcinoma through CREB-mediated activation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and is regulated by KLF5. Oncogenesis, 12(1), p.35 (2023).

5. Yang J, Wei H, Lin Y, Chu ESH, Zhou Y, Gou H, Guo S, Lau HCH, Cheung AHK, Chen H, To KF, Sung JJY, Wang Y, Yu J. High Soluble Fiber Promotes Colorectal Tumorigenesis Through Modulating Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2024 Feb;166(2):323-337.e7.

6. Cheung AHK, Wong KY, Chiang CH, Liu X, Zhang Y, Hui CH, Chen B, Wang Y, Chow C, Kang W, To KF. Interpretation of Lung Cancer Plasma EGFR Mutation Tests in the Clinical Setting: An update with meta-analyses. American Journal of Clinical Pathology. 2023 Feb 1;159(2):181-191.

7. Chen B, Chan WN, Xie F, Mui CW, Liu X, Cheung AHK, Lung RW, Chow C, Zhang Z, Fang C, Yu P. The molecular classification of cancer‐associated fibroblasts on a pan‐cancer single‐cell transcriptional atlas. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2023 Dec;13(12):e1516.

8. Cheung AHK, Hui CH, Wong KY, et al. Out of the cycle: Impact of cell cycle aberrations on cancer metabolism and metastasis. International Journal of Cancer. 2022 Sep 12. (2022)

9. Wong CC, Wu JL, Ji F, Kang W, Bian X, Chen H, Chan LS, Luk STY, Tong S, Xu J, Zhou Q, Liu D, Su H, Gou H, Cheung AHK, To KF, Cai Z, Shay JW, Yu J. The cholesterol uptake regulator PCSK9 promotes and is a therapeutic target in APC/KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer. Nature Communications 13, 3971 (2022).

10. Wong KY, Cheung AHK (co-first author), Chen B et al. Cancer‐associated fibroblasts in non‐small cell lung cancer: from molecular mechanisms to clinical implications. International Journal of Cancer (2022).

11. Chen B, Chan WN, Mui CW, Liu X, Zhang J, Wang Y, Cheung AHK, Chan AKY, Chan RCK, Leung KT, Dong Y, Pan Y, Ke H, Liang L, Zhou Z, Wong CC, Wu WKK, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Lo KW, To KF, Kang W. STK3 promotes gastric carcinogenesis by activating Ras-MAPK mediated cell cycle progression and serves as an independent prognostic biomarker. Molecular cancer, 20(1), 1-8. (2021)

12. Cheung AHK, Tong JH, Chung LY et al. EGFR mutation exists in squamous cell lung carcinoma. Pathology 52, 323-328 (2020).

13. Chau SL, Tong JH, Chow C, Kwan JS, Lung RW, Chung LY, Tin EK, Wong SS, Cheung AHK, Lau RW, Ng CS, Mok TS, Lo KW, To KF. Distinct molecular landscape of Epstein–Barr virus associated pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma revealed by genomic sequencing. Cancers, 12(8), 2065. (2020)

14. Cheung AHK, Chow C, Yu MY et al. Mismatch repair deficiency is implicated in carcinoma arising from ovarian teratoma. Pathology 51, 67-73 (2019).

15. Cheung AHK, Chow C & To KF. Latest development of liquid biopsy. Journal of thoracic disease 10, S1645 (2018).

16. Cheung AHK, Chow C, Zhang J et al. Specific targeting of point mutations in EGFR L858R-positive lung cancer by CRISPR/Cas9. Laboratory Investigation 7, 968-976 (2018).

17. Huang T, Zhou Y, Zhang J, Wong CC, Li W, Kwan JSH, Yang R, Chan AKY, Dong Y, Wu F, Zhang B, Cheung AHK, Wu WKK, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Wong N, Kang W, To KF. SRGAP1, a crucial target of miR-340 and miR-124, functions as a potential oncogene in gastric tumorigenesis. Oncogene 37, 1159 (2018).

18. Cheung AHK, Iyer D, Lam C et al. Emergence of CD26+ cancer stem cells with metastatic properties in colorectal carcinogenesis. International journal of molecular sciences 18, 1106 (2017).