Research Summary

Dr. Katherine Fuh is a gynecologic oncologist who specializes in diagnosing and managing cancers of the female reproductive system, including advanced ovarian and uterine cancers. Her expertise includes chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.

As a physician-scientist, Fuh studies how to improve outcomes for patients with ovarian or uterine cancer. She is nationally known for her use of molecular biomarkers (measurable biological indicators of disease) to guide and personalize therapy. Her laboratory focuses on identifying biomarkers associated with treatment resistance in patients with ovarian cancer and developing targeted therapies to overcome the resistance. She has been involved in numerous clinical trials (studies that use human volunteers to evaluate promising treatments) and is the principal investigator for one of the first clinical trials of a new drug for patients with treatment-resistant metastatic ovarian cancer. She is also the principal investigator on multiple research projects that received grants from various federal funders and foundations. She has published many scientific papers on gynecologic cancers, and her research has advanced how doctors approach treating these diseases.

Education

  • Johns Hopkins University, BA, 1999, Biology, E. Asian Studies
  • Georgetown University, MS, 2001, Physiology, Biophysics
  • Georgetown University, MD, 2005, Medicine
  • Stanford University, PhD, 2013, Cancer Biology
  • Stanford University Hospital, Resident, 2009, OB/GYN
  • Stanford University Hospital / UCSF (Joint Program), Fellow, 2012, Gynecologic Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2020-2024
    American Cancer Society, Research Scholar 
  • 2013-2018
    Reproductive Scientist Development Program Scholar
  • 2009
    Outstanding Resident Instructor, Stanford University Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident
  • 2009
    Scholar, NIH funded Advanced Residency Training at Stanford (ARTS) Program
  • 2009
    Excellence in Surgical Performance Award, Stanford University Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • 2008
    James A Roberts Award for Outstanding Clinical Care as a Resident, Gynecologic Oncology
  • 2008
    Administrative Chief Resident, Stanford University Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident
  • 2007
    Best Teaching Resident Award, Bayer HealthCare

Selected Publications

  1. Gupta VG, Hirst J, Petersen S, Roby KF, Kusch M, Zhou H, Clive ML, Jewell A, Pathak HB, Godwin AK, Wilson AJ, Crispens MA, Cybulla E, Vindigni A, Fuh KC, Khabele D. Entinostat, a selective HDAC1/2 inhibitor, potentiates the effects of olaparib in homologous recombination proficient ovarian cancer. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 Jul;162(1):163-172. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2021.04.015. Epub 2021 Apr 16. PubMed PMID: 33867143; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8647995.
  2. Mullen MM, McKinnish TR, Fiala MA, Zamorano AS, Kuroki LM, Fuh KC, Hagemann AR, McCourt CK, Mutch DG, Powell MA, Wildes TM, Thaker PH. A deficit-accumulation frailty index predicts survival outcomes in patients with gynecologic malignancy. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 Jun;161(3):700-704. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2021.02.027. Epub 2021 Feb 26. PubMed PMID: 33648746; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8859805.
  3. Kuroki LM, Morris DH, Greenwade M, Landon M, Hagemann AR, Thaker PH, Massad LS, McCourt CK, Fuh KC, Powell MA, Mutch DG, Khabele D, Vanderlan JR. Impact of employment and insurance status on distress in gynecologic oncology patients. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 May;161(2):477-482. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2021.01.038. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PubMed PMID: 33546868; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8642034.
  4. Wilson EM, Zamorano AS, Liu J, Morris D, Leon A, Kuroki LM, Thaker PH, McCourt CK, Fuh KC, Powell MA, Mutch DG, Colditz GA, Hagemann AR. Obese endometrial cancer survivors' perceptions of weight loss strategies and characteristics that may influence participation in behavioral interventions. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2021 May;36:100719. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2021.100719. eCollection 2021 May. PubMed PMID: 33665293; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7907756.
  5. Woo XY, Giordano J, Srivastava A, Zhao ZM, Lloyd MW, de Bruijn R, Suh YS, Patidar R, Chen L, Scherer S, Bailey MH, Yang CH, Cortes-Sanchez E, Xi Y, Wang J, Wickramasinghe J, Kossenkov AV, Rebecca VW, Sun H, Mashl RJ, Davies SR, Jeon R, Frech C, Randjelovic J, Rosains J, Galimi F, Bertotti A, Lafferty A, O'Farrell AC, Modave E, Lambrechts D, Ter Brugge P, Serra V, Marangoni E, El Botty R, Kim H, Kim JI, Yang HK, Lee C, Dean DA 2nd, Davis-Dusenbery B, Evrard YA, Doroshow JH, Welm AL, Welm BE, Lewis MT, Fang B, Roth JA, Meric-Bernstam F, Herlyn M, Davies MA, Ding L, Li S, Govindan R, Isella C, Moscow JA, Trusolino L, Byrne AT, Jonkers J, Bult CJ, Medico E, Chuang JH. Author Correction: Conservation of copy number profiles during engraftment and passaging of patient-derived cancer xenografts. Nat Genet. 2021 May;53(5):761. doi: 10.1038/s41588-021-00811-4. PubMed PMID: 33608693; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8110476.
  6. Carey-Love A, Mullen MM, Zamorano A, Markovina S, Hagemann AR, Fuh KC, Thaker PH, Mutch DG, Powell MA, Kuroki LM. The role of endometrial sampling for surveillance of recurrence in postmenopausal patients with medically inoperable stage I endometrial cancer. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2021 Feb;35:100694. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2020.100694. eCollection 2021 Feb. PubMed PMID: 33490354; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7809387.
  7. Woo XY, Giordano J, Srivastava A, Zhao ZM, Lloyd MW, de Bruijn R, Suh YS, Patidar R, Chen L, Scherer S, Bailey MH, Yang CH, Cortes-Sanchez E, Xi Y, Wang J, Wickramasinghe J, Kossenkov AV, Rebecca VW, Sun H, Mashl RJ, Davies SR, Jeon R, Frech C, Randjelovic J, Rosains J, Galimi F, Bertotti A, Lafferty A, O'Farrell AC, Modave E, Lambrechts D, Ter Brugge P, Serra V, Marangoni E, El Botty R, Kim H, Kim JI, Yang HK, Lee C, Dean DA 2nd, Davis-Dusenbery B, Evrard YA, Doroshow JH, Welm AL, Welm BE, Lewis MT, Fang B, Roth JA, Meric-Bernstam F, Herlyn M, Davies MA, Ding L, Li S, Govindan R, Isella C, Moscow JA, Trusolino L, Byrne AT, Jonkers J, Bult CJ, Medico E, Chuang JH. Conservation of copy number profiles during engraftment and passaging of patient-derived cancer xenografts. Nat Genet. 2021 Jan;53(1):86-99. doi: 10.1038/s41588-020-00750-6. Epub 2021 Jan 7. PubMed PMID: 33414553; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7808565.
  8. Stover EH, Fuh K, Konstantinopoulos PA, Matulonis UA, Liu JF. Clinical assays for assessment of homologous recombination DNA repair deficiency. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Dec;159(3):887-898. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.09.029. Epub 2020 Oct 2. Review. PubMed PMID: 33012552.
  9. Fuh K, Mullen M, Blachut B, Stover E, Konstantinopoulos P, Liu J, Matulonis U, Khabele D, Mosammaparast N, Vindigni A. Homologous recombination deficiency real-time clinical assays, ready or not?. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Dec;159(3):877-886. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.08.035. Epub 2020 Sep 20. Review. PubMed PMID: 32967790.
  10. Grither WR, Dickson BC, Fuh KC, Hagemann IS. Detection of a somatic GREB1-NCOA1 gene fusion in a uterine tumor resembling ovarian sex cord tumor (UTROSCT). Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2020 Nov;34:100636. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2020.100636. eCollection 2020 Nov. PubMed PMID: 32964092; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7490989.
  11. Buchanan TR, Johns EA, Massad LS, Dick R, Thaker PH, Hagemann AR, Fuh KC, McCourt CK, Powell MA, Mutch DG, Kuroki LM. A fellow-run clinic achieves similar patient outcomes as faculty clinics: A safe and feasible model for gynecologic oncology fellow education. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Oct;159(1):209-213. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.07.018. Epub 2020 Jul 19. PubMed PMID: 32694061; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8142030.
  12. Grigsby PW, Massad LS, Mutch DG, Powell MA, Thaker PH, McCourt C, Hagemann A, Fuh K, Kuroki L, Schwarz JK, Markovina S, Lin AJ, Dehdashti F, Siegel BA. FIGO 2018 staging criteria for cervical cancer: Impact on stage migration and survival. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Jun;157(3):639-643. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.03.027. Epub 2020 Apr 2. PubMed PMID: 32248993.
  13. Dou Y, Kawaler EA, Cui Zhou D, Gritsenko MA, Huang C, Blumenberg L, Karpova A, Petyuk VA, Savage SR, Satpathy S, Liu W, Wu Y, Tsai CF, Wen B, Li Z, Cao S, Moon J, Shi Z, Cornwell M, Wyczalkowski MA, Chu RK, Vasaikar S, Zhou H, Gao Q, Moore RJ, Li K, Sethuraman S, Monroe ME, Zhao R, Heiman D, Krug K, Clauser K, Kothadia R, Maruvka Y, Pico AR, Oliphant AE, Hoskins EL, Pugh SL, Beecroft SJI, Adams DW, Jarman JC, Kong A, Chang HY, Reva B, Liao Y, Rykunov D, Colaprico A, Chen XS, Czekański A, Jędryka M, Matkowski R, Wiznerowicz M, Hiltke T, Boja E, Kinsinger CR, Mesri M, Robles AI, Rodriguez H, Mutch D, Fuh K, Ellis MJ, DeLair D, Thiagarajan M, Mani DR, Getz G, Noble M, Nesvizhskii AI, Wang P, Anderson ML, Levine DA, Smith RD, Payne SH, Ruggles KV, Rodland KD, Ding L, Zhang B, Liu T, Fenyö D. Proteogenomic Characterization of Endometrial Carcinoma. Cell. 2020 Feb 20;180(4):729-748.e26. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.026. Epub 2020 Feb 13. PubMed PMID: 32059776; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7233456.
  14. Griffin NE, Buchanan TR, Smith SH, Leon AA, Meyer MF, Liu J, Tabak RG, Fuh KC, Thaker PH, Powell MA, Mutch DG, Massad LS, Colditz GA, Hagemann AR. Low rates of cascade genetic testing among families with hereditary gynecologic cancer: An opportunity to improve cancer prevention. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Jan;156(1):140-146. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2019.11.005. Epub 2019 Nov 25. PubMed PMID: 31780235.
  15. Xiao Y, Zhao H, Tian L, Nolley R, Diep AN, Ernst A, Fuh KC, Miao YR, von Eyben R, Leppert JT, Brooks JD, Peehl DM, Giaccia AJ, Rankin EB. S100A10 Is a Critical Mediator of GAS6/AXL-Induced Angiogenesis in Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cancer Res. 2019 Nov 15;79(22):5758-5768. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-1366. Epub 2019 Oct 4. PubMed PMID: 31585940; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7015045.
  16. Mills KA, Lopez H, Sun L, Cripe JC, Litz T, Thaker PH, Powell MA, Mutch DG, Fuh KC. Type II endometrial cancers with minimal, non-invasive residual disease on final pathology: What should we do next?. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2019 Aug;29:20-24. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2019.05.007. eCollection 2019 Aug. PubMed PMID: 31193699; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6541758.
  17. Fuh KC, Java JJ, Chan JK, Kapp DS, Monk BJ, Burger RA, Young RC, Alberts DS, McGuire WP, Markman M, Bell J, Ozols RF, Armstrong DK, Aghajanian C, Bookman MA, Mannel RS. Differences in presentation and survival of Asians compared to Caucasians with ovarian cancer: An NRG Oncology/GOG Ancillary study of 7914 patients. Gynecol Oncol. 2019 Aug;154(2):420-425. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2019.05.013. Epub 2019 Jun 19. PubMed PMID: 31229298; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6941471.
  18. Natarajan S, Foreman KM, Soriano MI, Rossen NS, Shehade H, Fregoso DR, Eggold JT, Krishnan V, Dorigo O, Krieg AJ, Heilshorn SC, Sinha S, Fuh KC, Rankin EB. Collagen Remodeling in the Hypoxic Tumor-Mesothelial Niche Promotes Ovarian Cancer Metastasis. Cancer Res. 2019 May 1;79(9):2271-2284. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-2616. Epub 2019 Mar 12. PubMed PMID: 30862717; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6822898.
  19. Cripe JC, Buchanan TR Jr, Wan L, Hagemann AR, McCourt CK, Massad LS, Fuh KC, Mutch DG, Powell MA, Thaker PH, Kuroki LM. Inpatient management of hypercalcemia portends a poor prognosis among gynecologic oncology patients: A trigger to initiate hospice care?. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2019 May;28:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2019.01.005. eCollection 2019 May. PubMed PMID: 30733991; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6357846.
  20. Liang B, Lange SS, Massad LS, Dick R, Mills KA, Hagemann AR, McCourt CK, Thaker PH, Fuh KC, Mutch DG, Powell MA, Kuroki LM. Do gynecologic oncology patients with severely diminished renal function and urinary tract obstruction benefit from ureteral stenting or percutaneous nephrostomy?. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2019 May;28:136-140. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2019.04.007. eCollection 2019 May. PubMed PMID: 31061871; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6488532.

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