Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Yu Chen Lab

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Research

Yu Chen, MD, PhD

The major goal of my laboratory is to understand how critical transcription factors mediate prostate cancer oncogenesis. Prostate cancers uniquely harbor very few mutations in well-known driver oncogenes (e.g., RAS, BRAF, etc.). Instead, they are characterized by aberrations in transcription factors, including the androgen receptor (AR) and ETS family transcription factors. These oncogenic transcription factors regulate a transcriptional program that determines cellular lineage, specifies the responses to external stimuli, and contributes to the oncogenic cellular context in prostate cancer. Our long-term goal is to generate an integrative understanding of how transcription factors normally guide the prostate lineage determination and how their deregulation leads to cancer. In addition, using biochemistry and genetic screens, we are pursuing ways to target the activity of these transcription factors that can lead to drug discovery.

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The Chen Lab

Featured News

SU2C Dream Team: Revolutionary Treatment For Prostate Cancer

Physician-scientist Yu Chen is part of a Stand Up To Cancer “Dream Team” that is focused on prostate cancer research....
In the Lab
Stained pathology slides of a patient’s tumor (right) and of an organoid made from that tumor (left).
Five Fascinating Approaches to Cancer Science

From tropical plants and 3-D snapshots of worms to tiny particles that light up tumors, here’s a glimpse at some of the fascinating work MSK researchers pursued in 2014 as part of our quest to advance cancer science.
In the Lab
Stained pathology slides of a patient’s tumor (right) and of an organoid made from that tumor (left).
Prostate Cancer Organoids Provide New Tool for Evaluating Therapies

Researchers have created tiny structures called organoids from patients’ prostate tumors. These organoids will allow the study of tumors in greater detail and enable correlation of genetic mutations with drug response.

Publications

Sumiyoshi T, Chi KN, Wyatt AW. Clinical implications of genomic alterations in metastatic prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2021 Jun;24(2):310-322.

Galbo PM Jr, Zang X, Zheng D. Molecular Features of Cancer-associated Fibroblast Subtypes and their Implication on Cancer Pathogenesis, Prognosis, and Immunotherapy Resistance. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 May 1;27(9):2636-2647.

Hitchman TD, Bayshtok G, Ceraudo E, Moore AR, Lee C, Jia R, Wang N, Pachai MR, Shoushtari AN, Francis JH, Guan Y, Chen J, Chang MT, Taylor BS, Sakmar TP, Huber T, Chi P, Chen Y. Combined Inhibition of Gαq and MEK Enhances Therapeutic Efficacy in Uveal Melanoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Mar 1;27(5):1476-1490.

Berchuck JE, Viscuse PV, Beltran H, Aparicio A. Clinical considerations for the management of androgen indifferent prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2021 Feb 10;.

Dhimolea E, de Matos Simoes R, Kansara D, Al’Khafaji A, Bouyssou J, Weng X, Sharma S, Raja J, Awate P, Shirasaki R, Tang H, Glassner BJ, Liu Z, Gao D, Bryan J, Bender S, Roth J, Scheffer M, Jeselsohn R, Gray NS, Georgakoudi I, Vazquez F, Tsherniak A, Chen Y, Welm A, Duy C, Melnick A, Bartholdy B, Brown M, Culhane AC, Mitsiades CS. An Embryonic Diapause-like Adaptation with Suppressed Myc Activity Enables Tumor Treatment Persistence. Cancer Cell. 2021 Feb 8;39(2):240-256.e11.

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People

Yu Chen

Yu Chen, MD, PhD

  • Physician-scientist Yu Chen studies the role of transcription factors that are critical for prostate cancer development.
  • MD, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • PhD, The Rockefeller University
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Physician profile

Members

Yeva Fishinevich

Research Technician

Emily Giff

Research Technician

Tyler Hitchman
Tyler Hitchman
Dan Li
Dan Li

Research Fellow

Cheng Qian

Graduate Research Assistant

Shipra Shukla
Shipra Shukla

Senior Research Scientist

Naitao Wang
Naitao Wang

Research Scholar

Chen Khuan Wong

Research Fellow

Lab Alumni
Luendreo Barboza
Luendreo Barboza

Research Technician

Wei Di
Wei Di

Research Technician

Dong Gao
Dong Gao

Research Fellow

Youxin Guan
Youxin Guan

Research Technician

Samuel Kaffenberger
Samuel Kaffenberger

Research Fellow

Amanda Moore
Amanda Moore

Graduate Research Assistant

Shraddha Pancholi
Shraddha Pancholi

Research Secretary

Leili Ran, BS
Leili Ran

Investment Analyst at Superstring Capital, New York, NY

Shangqian Wang
Shangqian Wang

Graduate Research Assistant

Yu Zhan
Yu Zhan

Research Scholar

Sinan Zhu
Sinan Zhu

Research Fellow

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • Louis V. Gerstner Young Investigator Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2011)
  • Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation (2011)
  • Physician Research Training Award, Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (2010)
  • Advanced Fellowship Award, Charles H. Revson Foundation (2009)
  • K08 Clinical Scientist Development Award, National Institutes of Health (2009)
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  • Clinical Scholars Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2008)
  • Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2007)
  • Clinical Cancer Research Award, American Association for Cancer Research/Bristol-Myers Squibb (2007)

Open Positions

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Yu Chen discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Merck & Co Inc.
    Provision of Services
  • Myovant Sciences
    Ownership / Equity Interests
  • Oric Pharmaceuticals
    Intellectual Property Rights; Ownership / Equity Interests

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2020 through disclosure submission in spring 2021). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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