Research Summary

Dr.Hyunseok "Hyu" Kang is a medical oncologist and a clinician scientist focusing on head and neck cancers including squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck (SCCHN), salivary gland cancers, thyroid cancers and other rare cancers of head and neck. Dr.Kang joined UCSF from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD where he was an Assistant Professor of Oncology, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr.Kang completed his medical degree and public health degree at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, then came to the US and had residency training at St.Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center/Columbia University in New York City. He completed hematology and medical oncology fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Dr.Kang's research focus is development of clinical trials with novel therapeutic agents for patients with head and neck cancers. He has conducted/participated a number of clinical trials with immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy agents.

Education

Yonsei University College of Sciences, Seoul, Korea, Premed Cert, 02/1998, Premedical Sciences
Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, M.D., 02/2002, Medicine
Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul, Korea, M.P.H., 08/2007, Epidemiology and Statistics
St.Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center/Columbia University College of P&S, New York, NY, Postdoctoral 06/2010 Internal Medicine Residency
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, Postdoctoral. 06/2013, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship

Honors & Awards

  • 2005
    Excellence in Public Health Service, Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea
  • 2012
    Travel Award, AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Research, Vail, CO

Selected Publications

  1. Buckley MW, Balaji Warner A, Brahmer J, Cappelli LC, Sharfman WH, Fuchs E, Kang H, Forde PM, Gladstone DE, Ambinder R, Kelly RJ, Lipson EJ, Gojo I, Lee EJ, Johnson TP, Saidha S, Llinas R, Ostrow LW, Naidoo J, Probasco JC. Immune-related encephalitis after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Oncologist. 2025 Jan 17; 30(1).  View on PubMed
  2. Cui Z, Kang H, Li H, Lee ED, Lee YS, Peterson CN, Long SR, Grandis JR, Johnson DE. CYLD Alterations Are Associated With Metastasis and Poor Prognosis in Human Papilloma Virus-Positive Head and Neck Cancer. Head Neck. 2025 Feb; 47(2):606-614.  View on PubMed
  3. Chin A, Lindsay S, Bergsland EK, Kang H. Withdrawal pain following patients discontinuing Trk inhibitors. J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2025 Jan; 31(1):147-150.  View on PubMed
  4. Diwanji D, Carrodeguas E, Seo Y, Kang H, Soe MH, Chiang JM, Zhang L, Liu C, Behr SC, Flavell RR. Comparative Uptake Patterns of Radioactive Iodine and [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancers. J Clin Med. 2024 Jul 06; 13(13).  View on PubMed
  5. Raez LE, Kang H, Ohe Y, Khanal M, Han Y, Szymczak S, Barker SS, Gilligan AM. Patient-reported outcomes with selpercatinib treatment in patients with RET-driven cancers in the phase I/II LIBRETTO-001 trial. ESMO Open. 2024 May; 9(5):103444.  View on PubMed
  6. Ferrarotto R, Swiecicki PL, Zandberg DP, Baiocchi RA, Wesolowski R, Rodriguez CP, McKean M, Kang H, Monga V, Nath R, Palmisiano N, Babbar N, Sun W, Hanna GJ. PRT543, a protein arginine methyltransferase 5 inhibitor, in patients with advanced adenoid cystic carcinoma: An open-label, phase I dose-expansion study. Oral Oncol. 2024 Feb; 149:106634.  View on PubMed
  7. Humphries A, Zhou CJ, Welsh M, Lem M, Kang H, Algazi AP. Carboplatin and paclitaxel after anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy in recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck. Head Neck. 2024 02; 46(2):321-327.  View on PubMed
  8. Hanna GJ, Ahn MJ, Muzaffar J, Keam B, Bowles DW, Wong DJ, Ho AL, Kim SB, Worden F, Yun T, Meng X, Van Tornout JM, Conlan MG, Kang H. A Phase II Trial of Rivoceranib, an Oral Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 Inhibitor, for Recurrent or Metastatic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 11 14; 29(22):4555-4563.  View on PubMed
  9. Lee RH, Truong A, Wu X, Kang H, Algazi AP, El-Sayed IH, George JR, Heaton CM, Ryan WR, Ha PK, Wai KC. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in salivary gland cancers treated with pembrolizumab. Head Neck. 2024 01; 46(1):129-137.  View on PubMed
  10. Plonowska-Hirschfeld KA, Gulati A, Stephens EM, Ochoa E, Xu MJ, Ha PK, Heaton CM, Yom SS, Chan JW, Algazi A, Kang H, Ryan WR. Treatment Modality Impact on Patient-Reported Quality of Life in Human Papilloma Virus-Associated Oropharyngeal Carcinoma. Laryngoscope. 2024 04; 134(4):1687-1695.  View on PubMed
  11. Gulati A, Plonowska-Hirschfeld K, Stephens EM, Kansara S, Zebolsky AL, Ochoa E, Xu MJ, Ha PK, Heaton CM, Yom SS, Chan JW, Algazi AP, Kang H, Ryan WR. A prospective evaluation of neck and shoulder function following treatments of early-stage human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx cancer. Clin Otolaryngol. 2023 Sep; 48(5):756-765.  View on PubMed
  12. Rodriguez CP, Kang H, Geiger JL, Burtness B, Chung CH, Pickering CR, Fakhry C, Le QT, Yom SS, Galloway TJ, Golemis E, Li A, Shoop J, Wong S, Mehra R, Skinner H, Saba NF, Flores ER, Myers JN, Ford JM, Karchin R, Ferris RL, Kunos C, Lynn JM, Malik S. Clinical Trial Development in TP53-Mutated Locally Advanced and Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 12 08; 114(12):1619-1627.  View on PubMed
  13. Pfister DG, Haddad RI, Worden FP, Weiss J, Mehra R, Chow LQM, Liu SV, Kang H, Saba NF, Wirth LJ, Sukari A, Massarelli E, Ayers M, Albright A, Webber AL, Mogg R, Lunceford J, Huang L, Cristescu R, Cheng J, Seiwert TY, Bauml JM. Biomarkers predictive of response to pembrolizumab in head and neck cancer. Cancer Med. 2023 03; 12(6):6603-6614.  View on PubMed
  14. Lee RH, Wai KC, Chan JW, Ha PK, Kang H. Approaches to the Management of Metastatic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Nov 20; 14(22).  View on PubMed
  15. Subbiah V, Wolf J, Konda B, Kang H, Spira A, Weiss J, Takeda M, Ohe Y, Khan S, Ohashi K, Soldatenkova V, Szymczak S, Sullivan L, Wright J, Drilon A. Tumour-agnostic efficacy and safety of selpercatinib in patients with RET fusion-positive solid tumours other than lung or thyroid tumours (LIBRETTO-001): a phase 1/2, open-label, basket trial. Lancet Oncol. 2022 10; 23(10):1261-1273.  View on PubMed
  16. Ho AL, Foster NR, Zoroufy AJ, Campbell JD, Worden F, Price K, Adkins D, Bowles DW, Kang H, Burtness B, Sherman E, Morton R, Morris LGT, Nadeem Z, Katabi N, Munster P, Schwartz GK. Phase II Study of Enzalutamide for Patients With Androgen Receptor-Positive Salivary Gland Cancers (Alliance A091404). J Clin Oncol. 2022 12 20; 40(36):4240-4249.  View on PubMed
  17. Soe MH, Chiang JM, Flavell RR, Khanafshar E, Mendoza L, Kang H, Liu C. Non-Iodine-Avid Disease Is Highly Prevalent in Distant Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancer With Papillary Histology. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 07 14; 107(8):e3206-e3216.  View on PubMed
  18. Haddad RI, Seiwert TY, Chow LQM, Gupta S, Weiss J, Gluck I, Eder JP, Burtness B, Tahara M, Keam B, Kang H, Muro K, Albright A, Mogg R, Ayers M, Huang L, Lunceford J, Cristescu R, Cheng J, Mehra R. Influence of tumor mutational burden, inflammatory gene expression profile, and PD-L1 expression on response to pembrolizumab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2022 02; 10(2).  View on PubMed
  19. Park JC, Ashok A, Liu C, Kang H. Real-World Experience of NTRK Fusion-Positive Thyroid Cancer. JCO Precis Oncol. 2022 02; 6:e2100442.  View on PubMed
  20. Min S, Kang H. What’s New in Molecular Targeted Therapies for Thyroid Cancer? Korean J Head Neck Oncol. 2021; 2(37):1-9.  View on PubMed

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