Dr. Yuzhuo Wang, Ph.D., F.C.A.H.S., is a Distinguished Scientist at BC Cancer and a Senior Scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. He is also a Full Professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia and the founder of the unique Living Tumor Laboratory (www.livingtumolab.com). Dr. Wang has authored over 210 peer-reviewed articles, 14 book chapters, and edited two books (PDX Models of Human Cancer and Tumor Dormancy) with an H-index of 78.

Dr. Wang is an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of cancer modeling. He developed a novel method for establishing patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cancer models that closely resemble patients' malignancies from which they are derived. He has established over 300 high-fidelity next-generation PDX models of various malignancies in his Living Tumor Laboratory, which have been effectively applied in preclinical drug efficacy studies, discovery and validation of potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and evidence-based personalized cancer therapy

Dr. Wang’s contributions to cancer research can be highlighted by several novel hypotheses he has proposed, such as hypotheses on "prostate stem cells," "epithelial-immune cell transition (EIT)," "cancer-generated lactic acid is a critical, immunosuppressive metabolite rather than a 'waste product' (which has been believed for over 90 years)," and "Tumor dormancy is a non-genetic disease." Based on his innovative theories and ideas, he has maintained a high level of grant funding that has led to widely recognized, ground-breaking research, including the discovery of several new therapeutic targets and the development of novel therapeutics targeting GATA2, BIRC6, MCT4, HP1-alpha, G9a and B7H4 genes. Three biotech companies have been formed in Canada based on his discoveries.  

Dr. Wang has given more than 200 lectures worldwide, including at the most prestigious prostate cancer meetings. He has received many awards for his academic achievements in cancer research, including the Translation Research Award from Roche Canada (2009), the Innovative Scholar Award from the International Cancer Alliance for Research and Education (ICARE), US (2010), UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award (2011), Department of Urologic Sciences Research Teaching Excellence Award (2015), and five UBC Department of Urologic Sciences Outstanding Academic Performance Awards (2013, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021), and two PCF Challenge Awards (US) (2020, 2021). He has been a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS) since September 2018.

Affiliations

Distinguished Scientist, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, BC Cancer

Senior Scientist, Vancouver Prostate Centre

Professor, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia

Leader, Living Tumor Laboratory

Credentials

Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, 1997-2000

Ph.D. (Medicine), Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, 1993-1997

M.Sc. (Biology), Department of Biology, Nankai University, China, 1986-1989

B.Sc. (Biology), Department of Biology, Nankai University, China, 1982-1986

Projects

Stromal Gene Expression Predicts And May Drive Metastasis in Prostate Cancer

Men with low to intermediate risk prostate cancer (PCa) face vexing decisions regarding treatment. The tumour can remain indolent and will not impact the patient within his lifetime, or it can progress to become life threatening (metastatic tumour). A holy grail of PCa research is the identification of prognostic biomarkers, which are biological factors that are associated with the disease outcomes, that can be used to improve patient risk stratification at time of diagnosis and guide treatment decisions.

Application of antibody internalization domain to improve the efficacy and safety of Antibody Drug Conjugates

Recent revolution in anti-cancer therapy utilizes the antibody's power to target cancer cells with chemotoxins. This approach of conjugating toxin to antibody (ADC= antibody drug conjugates) with specific affinity to cancer cells have dramatically improved both the safety and efficacy of the treatment. The most notable recent success is Kadcyla which combines DM1 toxin with anti-HER2 antibody to treat breast cancer. A critical factor in developing a successful ADC is an antibody's ability to internalize itself once it binds to the target cancer cell's biomarkers (receptors).

Identification of HP1a as a key regulator and a novel therapeutic target for neuroendocrine prostate cancer

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a currently incurable, lethal subtype of prostate cancer that can develop from the disease following prolonged hormonal therapy. Unfortunately, there are few treatment options available for NEPC and new therapeutic targets and more effective treatments are urgently needed to improve its management. A state-of-the-art pre-clinical model of NEPC, developed in our group, is giving us unprecedented levels of accuracy in monitoring how NEPC progresses.

Function and therapeutic potential of SUV420H2 in neuroendocrine prostate cancer

Treatment-resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a currently incurable, lethal subtype of prostate cancer that usually develops following prolonged hormonal therapy. The only treatment option for NEPC is a highly toxic chemotherapy, which provides only limited survival benefits. Therefore, more effective treatments are urgently needed to improve the management of NEPC. Our current research goal is to understand how NEPC develops and progresses and pave the road to develop new therapy for the disease treatment.

Selected Publications

Establishment in severe combined immunodeficiency mice of subrenal capsule xenografts and transplantable tumor lines from a variety of primary human lung cancers: potential models for studying tumor progression-related changes.

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2006
Cutz, Jean-Claude, Guan, Jun, Bayani, Jane, Yoshimoto, Maisa, Xue, Hui, Sutcliffe, Margaret, English, John, Flint, Julia, LeRiche, Jean, Yee, John, Squire, Jeremy A, Gout, Peter W, Lam, Stephen, Wang, Yu-Zhuo
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Next generation sequencing of prostate cancer from a patient identifies a deficiency of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase, an exploitable tumor target.

Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2012
Collins, Colin C, Volik, Stanislav V, Lapuk, Anna V, Wang, Yuwei, Gout, Peter W, Wu, Chunxiao, Xue, Hui, Cheng, Hongwei, Haegert, Anne, Bell, Robert H, Brahmbhatt, Sonal, Anderson, Shawn, Fazli, Ladan, Hurtado-Coll, Antonio, Rubin, Mark A, Demichelis, Francesca, Beltran, Himisha, Hirst, Martin, Marra, Marco, Maher, Christopher A, Chinnaiyan, Arul M, Gleave, Martin, Bertino, Joseph R, Lubin, Martin, Wang, Yuzhuo
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High fidelity patient-derived xenografts for accelerating prostate cancer discovery and drug development.

Cancer research, 2014
Lin, Dong, Wyatt, Alexander W, Xue, Hui, Wang, Yuwei, Dong, Xin, Haegert, Anne, Wu, Rebecca, Brahmbhatt, Sonal, Mo, Fan, Jong, Lina, Bell, Robert H, Anderson, Shawn, Hurtado-Coll, Antonio, Fazli, Ladan, Sharma, Manju, Beltran, Himisha, Rubin, Mark, Cox, Michael, Gout, Peter W, Morris, James, Goldenberg, Larry, Volik, Stanislav V, Gleave, Martin E, Collins, Colin C, Wang, Yuzhuo
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Heterogeneity in the inter-tumor transcriptome of high risk prostate cancer.

Genome biology, 2014
Wyatt, Alexander W, Mo, Fan, Wang, Kendric, McConeghy, Brian, Brahmbhatt, Sonal, Jong, Lina, Mitchell, Devon M, Johnston, Rebecca L, Haegert, Anne, Li, Estelle, Liew, Janet, Yeung, Jake, Shrestha, Raunak, Lapuk, Anna V, McPherson, Andrew, Shukin, Robert, Bell, Robert H, Anderson, Shawn, Bishop, Jennifer, Hurtado-Coll, Antonio, Xiao, Hong, Chinnaiyan, Arul M, Mehra, Rohit, Lin, Dong, Wang, Yuzhuo, Fazli, Ladan, Gleave, Martin E, Volik, Stanislav V, Collins, Colin C
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Dynamics of genomic clones in breast cancer patient xenografts at single-cell resolution.

Nature, 2015
Eirew, Peter, Steif, Adi, Khattra, Jaswinder, Ha, Gavin, Yap, Damian, Farahani, Hossein, Gelmon, Karen, Chia, Stephen, Mar, Colin, Wan, Adrian, Laks, Emma, Biele, Justina, Shumansky, Karey, Rosner, Jamie, McPherson, Andrew, Nielsen, Cydney, Roth, Andrew J L, Lefebvre, Calvin, Bashashati, Ali, de Souza, Camila, Siu, Celia, Aniba, Radhouane, Brimhall, Jazmine, Oloumi, Arusha, Osako, Tomo, Bruna, Alejandra, Sandoval, Jose L, Algara, Teresa, Greenwood, Wendy, Leung, Kaston, Cheng, Hongwei, Xue, Hui, Wang, Yuzhuo, Lin, Dong, Mungall, Andrew J, Moore, Richard, Zhao, Yongjun, Lorette, Julie, Nguyen, Long, Huntsman, David, Eaves, Connie J, Hansen, Carl, Marra, Marco A, Caldas, Carlos, Shah, Sohrab P, Aparicio, Samuel
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Generation 2.5 antisense oligonucleotides targeting the androgen receptor and its splice variants suppress enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell growth.

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2015
Yamamoto, Yoshiaki, Loriot, Yohann, Beraldi, Eliana, Zhang, Fan, Wyatt, Alexander W, Al Nakouzi, Nader, Mo, Fan, Zhou, Tianyuan, Kim, Youngsoo, Monia, Brett P, MacLeod, A Robert, Fazli, Ladan, Wang, Yuzhuo, Collins, Colin C, Zoubeidi, Amina, Gleave, Martin
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Androgen Receptor Gene Aberrations in Circulating Cell-Free DNA: Biomarkers of Therapeutic Resistance in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2015
Azad, Arun A, Volik, Stanislav V, Wyatt, Alexander W, Haegert, Anne, Le Bihan, Stephane, Bell, Robert H, Anderson, Shawn A, McConeghy, Brian, Shukin, Robert, Bazov, Jenny, Youngren, Jack, Paris, Pamela, Thomas, George, Small, Eric J, Wang, Yuzhuo, Gleave, Martin E, Collins, Colin C, Chi, Kim N
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The Placental Gene PEG10 Promotes Progression of Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer.

Cell reports, 2015
Akamatsu, Shusuke, Wyatt, Alexander W, Lin, Dong, Lysakowski, Summer, Zhang, Fan, Kim, Soojin, Tse, Charan, Wang, Kendric, Mo, Fan, Haegert, Anne, Brahmbhatt, Sonal, Bell, Robert, Adomat, Hans, Kawai, Yoshihisa, Xue, Hui, Dong, Xin, Fazli, Ladan, Tsai, Harrison, Lotan, Tamara L, Kossai, Myriam, Mosquera, Juan Miguel, Rubin, Mark A, Beltran, Himisha, Zoubeidi, Amina, Wang, Yuzhuo, Gleave, Martin E, Collins, Colin C
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Translational Activation of HIF1α by YB-1 Promotes Sarcoma Metastasis.

Cancer cell, 2015
El-Naggar, Amal M, Veinotte, Chansey J, Cheng, Hongwei, Grunewald, Thomas G P, Negri, Gian Luca, Somasekharan, Syam Prakash, Corkery, Dale P, Tirode, Franck, Mathers, Joan, Khan, Debjit, Kyle, Alastair H, Baker, Jennifer H, LePard, Nancy E, McKinney, Steven, Hajee, Shamil, Bosiljcic, Momir, Leprivier, Gabriel, Tognon, Cristina E, Minchinton, Andrew I, Bennewith, Kevin L, Delattre, Olivier, Wang, Yuzhuo, Dellaire, Graham, Berman, Jason N, Sorensen, Poul H
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