Prof. Hextan YS Ngan is a Chair Professor and the Head of Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, the University of Hong Kong. She is also the team leader of Oncology Division of this department. Her research interests include basic, clinical and translational cancer research in gynaecology oncology. Her research interests include basic, clinical and translational cancer research in gynaecology oncology. Her basic research interests have focus on the genetic/epigenetic alterations leading to the aberrant expressions of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, as well as their associated signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian, endometrial and cervical carcinomas. Human growth factor receptor-bound protein-7 (GRB7) is a key oncoprotein involved in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and governing diverse cellular processes. Her team has previously reported that the aberrant upregulation of GRB7 and its isoform GRB7v are associated with different aspects of the progression of ovarian cancers. They have recently further found that the upregulation of GRB7/7v is attributed to the hypermethylation of its upstream modulator miR-193a-3p. They demonstrated that miR-193a-3p not only modulates GRB7 but also ERBB4, SOS2 and KRAS in the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in ovarian cancer cells. These findings have indicated miR-193a-3p may be developed as a promising miRNA replacement therapy in ovarian cancers. On the other hand, cancer metastasis is the major clinical obstacle in human cancers including ovarian cancers. Indeed, the successful cancer metastasis relies on the presence of the metastatic niche and the adaptation of cancer cells in tumor microenvironment. The development of anoikis resistance is a fundamental step of cancer cells during metastatic cancer progression. Her research team has recently found that an OncomiR, miR-141, is aberrantly upregulated in advanced and metastatic ovarian cancer cells. Functional and mechanistic studies showed that the upregulation of miR-141 suppresses KLF12 suppressor that in turn, allows Sp1 transcriptionally upregulating survivin, leading to increased cell survival of ovarian cancer cells in stress microenvironment. This suggests that miR-141/KLF12/Sp1/survivin signalling axis likely serves as a potential therapeutic target for metastatic ovarian cancer. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common female cancer worldwide. They have recently identified the CD55 (+) subpopulation of cervical cancer stem-like cells are responsible for tumour resistance to cancer treatment and recurrence. They found the human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 protein can upregulate CD55 which in turn, enhances self-renewal and resistance of radiotherapy of cervical cancer cells. Hence, it looks likely that targeting CD55 by CRISPR/Cas9 system shows a potential therapeutic approach in cervical cancer.  Moreover, they have also reported a subset of six oncogenic microRNA (miRNA) signature (miR-20a, miR-92a, miR-141, miR-183*, miR-210 and miR-944) was significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer and pre-malignant lesions compared to normal cervical samples. This indicates that this subset of miRNAs are potentially developed as the diagnostic biomarker for cervical pre-malignant lesions and cancer in the future.

     Her clinical translational research effort has focused on cervical cancer screening especially on the role of HPV testing as well as on psychosocial studies including quality of life. In addition, the development of precision medicine and omics-driven gynae-oncology is my interest and the direction of our team. Currently her group is conducting numerous studies in bench to bedside cancer biology. Lastly, her team has also taken part in contract clinical trials mainly in ovarian cancer treatment and HPV vaccines.