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Dr TSUI Yu Man, Goofy

Dr TSUI, Yu Man Goofy

Research Assistant Professor

  • PhD (HK)
email ymtsui@pathology.hku.hk
Research Interest

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy of liver in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Surgical resection and liver transplantation offer treatments of potential cure but treatment choices are often hindered by cancer metastasis, chemoresistance, and post-surgical tumor recurrence. In regards to these, I have the following research interests:

- Tumor initiating cells (TICs):

- we will make use of various platforms to study liver tumor initiating cells (LTICs), for example, single cell sequencing platforms for studying specific populations, FAC-sorting clinical samples by the various LTIC markers for further study, functional screening to search for novel potential functional markers of LTICs with subsequent functional validation, etc.

- Translational aspects for liver cancer treatment:

- screening and testing the efficacy of drug targets and development of future personalized medicine;

- non-invasive liquid biopsy for HCC early detection, better prognosis and more accurate monitoring of drug treatment response


Honorary Appointment
  • Honorary Assistant Researcher, Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital

Editorial and professional activity
  • Review Editor in Editorial Board, Frontiers in Genetics and Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

Memberships of professional societies
  • Associate member, State Key Laboratory of Liver Research, the University of Hong Kong

Research Grants
  • National Natural Science Fund of China (2019) - (Co-Investigator)
    Elucidation of frequent TERT genomic alterations and telomerase reactivation in HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. 
    (阐明乙肝相关肝细胞癌的高频TERT HBV基因组整合及端粒酶活化的机制) (reference no.: 81872222) 
  • Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) (2018) - (Co-Investigator)
    Elucidation of frequent TERT genomic alterations and telomerase reactivation in HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. (reference no.: 05162246)

Selected Publications
  • Lyu XY*, Tsui YM*, Ho DW, Ng IO. Liquid biopsy using cell-free or circulating tumor DNA in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Feb 17: S2352-345X(22)00035-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2022.02.008. (*Equal contribution) (IF 9.225)
  • Hussain A, Chiu EY, Sze KM, Ho DW, Tsui YM, Suarez EM, Zhang VX, Chan LK, Lee E, Lee JM, Cheung TT, Wong CC, Chung CY, Ng IO. Ephrin-A3/EphA2 axis regulates cellular metabolic plasticity to enhance cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2022 Feb 25: S0168-8278(22)00125-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.02.018. (IF 25.08)
  • Ho DW, Tsui YM, Chan LK, Sze KM, Zhang X, Cheu WS, Chiu YT, Lee JM, Chan AC, Cheung ET, Yau DT, Chia NH, Lo IL, Sham PC, Cheung TT, Wong CW, Ng IO. Single-cell RNA sequencing shows the immunosuppressive landscape and tumor heterogeneity of HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. Nat Comm. 2021 Jun 17;12(1):3684. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021- 24010-1. (IF 14.92)
  • Zhang VX, Sze KM, Chan LK, Ho DW, Tsui YM, Chiu YT, Lee E, Hussain A, Huang HY, Tian L, Wong CC, Ng IO. Antioxidant supplements promote tumor initiation and growth and confer drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma by reducing intracellular ROS and induction of TMBIM1. Cell & Bioscience. 2021; Dec 19;11(1):217. doi: 10.1186/s13578-021-00731-0. (IF 7.13)
  • Chan LK, Tsui YM, Ho DW, Ng IO. Cellular heterogeneity and plasticity in liver cancer. Sem Cancer Biol. 2021;S1044-579X(21)00050-X. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.02.015. (IF 15.71)
  • Wang X, Wang J, Tsui YM, Shi C, Wang Y, Zhang X, Yan Q, Chen M, Jiang C, Yuan Y, Wong CM, Liu M, Feng ZY, Chen H, Ng IO, Jiang L, and Guan XY. RALYL increases hepatocellular carcinoma stemness by sustaining the mRNA stability of TGF-β2. Nat Comm. 2021;12:1518. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21828-7. (IF 14.92)
  • Tsui YM*, Chan LK*, Ng IO. Cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma: mechanisms and translational potential. Br J Cancer. 2020;122:1428-1440. doi: 10.1038/s41416-020-0823-9. (*Equal contribution) (IF 7.64)
  • Sze KM, Ho DW, Chiu YT, Tsui YM, Chan LK, Lee JM, Chok KS, Chan AC, Tang CN, Tang VW, Lo IL, Yau DT, Cheung TT, Ng IO. HBV-TERT Promoter Integration Harnesses Host ELF4 Resulting in TERT Gene Transcription in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Hepatology. 2021;73:23-40. doi: 10.1002/hep.31231. (IF 17.43)
  • Ho DW*, Tsui YM*, Sze KM, Chan LK, Cheung TT, Lee E, Sham PC, Tsui SK, Lee TK, Ng IO. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the landscape of intra-tumoral heterogeneity and stemness-related subpopulations in liver cancer. Cancer Lett. 2019 Sep 10: 459:176-185. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2019.06.002. (*Equal contribution) (IF 8.68)
  • Tsui YM, Sze KM, Tung EK, Ho DW, Lee TK, Ng IO. Dishevelled-3 phosphorylation is governed by HIPK2/PP1Cα/ITCH axis and the non-phosphorylated form promotes cancer stemness via LGR5 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncotarget. 2017 Jun 13;8(24):39430-39442. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.17049. (IF 4.85)
  • Cui CP, Wong CC, Kai AK, Ho DW, Lau EY, Tsui YM, Chan LK, Cheung TT, Chok KS, Chan AC, Lo RC, Lee JM, Lee TK, Ng IO. SENP1 promotes hypoxia-induced cancer stemness by HIF-1α deSUMOylation and SENP1/HIF-1α positive feedback loop. Gut. 2017; 66:2149-2159. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2016-313264. (IF 19.82)
  • Ma W, Ho DW, Sze KM, Tsui YM, Chan LK, Lee JM, Ng IO. APOBEC3B promotes hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis through novel deaminase-independent activity. Mol Carcinog. 2019 May;58(5):643-653. doi: 10.1002/mc.22956. (IF 3.83)