Albert Koong

Clinical Focus

• Cancer > Radiation Oncology
• Cancer > Radiation Oncology > Radiation Therapy
• Colorectal Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer - Radiation Oncology
• Esophageal Cancer

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Xiaoli Shi, Jing Zhang

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Cancer Biology
• Radiation Oncology

Web Site Links

• Koong Lab Home Page

Research Interests

Hypoxia induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in solid tumors. Previous studies have indicated that hypoxia is a major determinant of local, regional, and distant recurrence after anticancer therapy. The response of tumor cells to hypoxia depends on the severity and duration of oxygen deprivation. For example, hypoxia induced factor (HIF-1) is activated at physiological levels of oxygen change, whereas the unfolded protein response (UPR) is induced by severe oxygen deprivation. The UPR is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that functions to reduce protein accumulation in the ER resulting in increased capacity to tolerate ER stress. We hypothesize that since the UPR is also activated during hypoxia, it may be a critical regulator of cell survival during hypoxia and is necessary for tumor growth. The focus of my laboratory is to understand the relationship between hypoxia and ER stress, particularly as it relates to tumorigenesis.

Clinical Trials

• Novel Serum Markers for Monitoring Response to Anti-Cancer Therapy Recruiting
• Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life in Patients Treated for Rectal Cancer Recruiting
• Feasibility of Using Real-time Cine-MRI for Treating Moving & Deforming Tumors Recruiting
• PII Combination SBRT with TACE for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recruiting
• QOL & Functional Outcomes After Combined Modality Tx for Anal CA: Comparison of Conventional vs IMRT Recruiting

Publications

• X box-binding protein 1 regulates angiogenesis in human pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Romero-Ramirez L, Cao H, Regalado MP, Kambham N, Siemann D, Kim JJ, Le QT, Koong AC. Transl Oncol. 2009; 2 (1): 31-8
• The role of tumor cell-derived connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) in pancreatic tumor growth. Bennewith KL, Huang X, Ham CM, Graves EE, Erler JT, Kambham N, Feazell J, Yang GP, Koong A, Giaccia AJ. Cancer Res. 2009; 69 (3): 775-84
• Unfolded Protein Response Regulation in Keloid Cells. Butler PD, Wang Z, Ly DP, Longaker MT, Koong AC, Yang GP. J Surg Res. 2009
• Stereotactic radiotherapy for unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Chang DT, Schellenberg D, Shen J, Kim J, Goodman KA, Fisher GA, Ford JM, Desser T, Quon A, Koong AC. Cancer. 2009; 115 (3): 665-72
• Hypoxia-induced lysyl oxidase is a critical mediator of bone marrow cell recruitment to form the premetastatic niche. Erler JT, Bennewith KL, Cox TR, Lang G, Bird D, Koong A, Le QT, Giaccia AJ. Cancer Cell. 2009; 15 (1): 35-44