Education Qualifications: MBBS (London), FRCR (Clinical Oncology), PhD (Cancer & Radiation Biology)
Dr Melvin Chua is a Clinician-Scientist at the National Cancer Centre Singapore, and Principal Investigator of the Tan Chin Tuan Laboratory of Optical Imaging, Photodynamic and Proton Beam Therapy – Precision Radiation Oncology Programme, Division of Radiation Oncology. His research is supported by the NMRC Clinician-scientist award, and is focused on discovery and translational cancer genomics, and the development of biomarker-directed clinical trials in nasopharyngeal (NPC) and prostate cancers.
He graduated from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore in 2002. He obtained his Fellowship in Clinical Oncology from the Royal College of Radiologists, and his Doctorate from the University College London in 2013. He later completed post-doctoral Clinician-scientist fellowships at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, UK, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Toronto.
Dr Chua is a KOL on NPC and prostate cancer, and he has been invited to speak at >100 international meetings. He is also on the scientific advisory board for the NPC Guangzhou-Singapore Trial Network and a board member on the Head Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG).
His other academic activities include his roles as the Associate Senior Editor of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics – Official journal of the American Society of Radiation Oncology and Editor-in-Chief, Annals of Nasopharynx Cancer. He also serves on the International Education Steering Group and the Asia-Pacific Regional Council of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers, with a H-index of 22, including highly cited articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature, Cell, Journal of Clinical Oncology and JAMA Oncology.
Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships:
- Co-Chairman, NCCS Research Biosafety Committee (2019-Present)
- Board Member, Head Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG) (2019 – Present)
- Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology – International Regional Council (2019 – Present)
- Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology – International Education Steering Group (IESG) (2019-2020)
- EXCO member, Singapore Society of Oncology (2018 – Present)
- Member, Grant Monitoring Committee of NCCS Research Fund (2018 – Present)
- Co-Chair, NCCS Biennial Research Book Committee (2018)
- Member, Clinical Service Line Discussion Group for Head and Neck, Genitourinary, and Nasopharynx Cancers, NCCS (2017 – Present)
- Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology - Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course (MCMC) Working Group (2017-2020)
- Trustee, Alice’s Arc (Children’s Cancer Charity, UK; Charity Commission No. 1164253) (2016 – Present)
Awards:
- Manpower Development Plan Leadership Award, MOH Health (2020)
- Clinician Scientist (INV) Award, National Medical Research Council (2018)
- ASCO Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2013, 2016, 2017)
- Ferring Singapore Innovation Award (2017)
- Sanofi Research Award, Canadian Urologic Oncology Group (2015)
- Transition Award for Clinician-Scientist, National Medical Research Council (2014)
Leadership positions / roles in Education:
External Faculty Appointments
- Visiting Professor, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (2019-Present)
Post-graduate Student Supervisions
- Overseas visiting scholar, Dr Guang-Qiao Qin, The Affiliated Tumour Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China (2019, Sep-present)
- Overseas visiting scholar, Dr Huang Luo, Chong Qing University Cancer Hospital, Chong Qing, China (2019, Jul-present)
- Duke-NUS PhD candidate, Dr Nei Wen Long - NMRC PhD research fellow (2018, Jul-present)
- Overseas visiting scholar, Dr Liang Zhongguo, The Affiliated Tumour Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China (2018, Jun-2019, Aug)
- Overseas visiting scholar, Dr Yao Kai, Sun Yat Sen University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, China (2018, Sep-2019, Aug)
Graduate Student Supervisions
- BSc student (FYP year), Mr Joshua Chua; Project title: Investigating the Role of Radiomics for Prognostication in Nasopharynx Cancer (2018, Jan-Jun)
Selected Publications:
1. Zhang Y, Chen L, Hu GQ, Zhang N, Zhu XD, Yang KY, Jin F, Shi M, Chen Y-P, Hu WH, Cheng ZB, Wang SY, Tian Y, Wang XC, Sun Y, Li GJ, Li WF, Li YH, Tang LL, Mao YP, Zhou GQ, Sun R, Liu X, Guo R, Long GX, Liang SQ, Li L, Huang J, Long JH, Zang J, Liu QD, Zou L, Su QF, Zheng BM, Xiao Y, Guo Y, Han F, Mo HY, Liu N, Li YQ, Chua ML, et al. Gemcitabine and cisplatin induction chemotherapy nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
N Engl J Med 2019; 381(12): 1124-35.
2. Chua ML, Chan AT. Gemcitabine: a game changer in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Lancet 2016; 388(10054): 1853-54.
3. Chua ML, Wee J, Hui EP, Chan AT. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Lancet 2016; 387(10022): 1012-24.
4. Fraser M, Sabelnykova V, Yamaguchi TN, Heisler LE, Livingstone J, Huang V, Shiah YJ, Yousif F, Lin XH, Masella AP, Fox N, Xie M, Prokopec SD, Berlin A, Lalonde E, Trudel D, Luo XM, Beck TA, Meng A, Zhang JY, D’Costa A, Denroche RE, Kong HY, Espiritu SM, Chua ML, et al. Genomic hallmarks of localized, non-indolent prostate cancer. Nature 2017; 541(7637): 359-64.
5. Houlahan K, Shiah Y-J, Yao C, Huang V, Fraser M, Heisler LE, Livingstone J, Yamaguchi T, Rouette A, Foucal A, Espiritu SM, Sinha A, Sam M, Timms L, Johns J, Wong A, Meng A, Kron K, Murison A, Orain M, Picard V, Hovington H, Bergeron A, Lacombe L, Lupien M, Fradet Y, Tetu B, McPherson JD, Kislinger T, Chua ML, et al. Genome-wide germline correlates of the epigenetic landscape of prostate cancer. Nat Med 2019; 25(10): 1615-26.
6. Chen S, Huang V, Xu X, Livingstone J, Soares F, Jeon J, Zeng Y, Yousif F, Zhang YZ, Donmez N, Ahmed M, Guo HY, Volik S, Lapuk A, Petricca J, Chua ML, et al. Widespread and Functional RNA Circularization in Localized Prostate Cancer. Cell 2019; 176(4): 831-43.
7. Espiritu SM, Liu L, Rubanova Y, Bhandari V, Holgersen E, Szyca L, Fox N, Chua ML, et al. The Evolutionary Landscape of Localized Prostate Cancers Drives Clinical Aggression. Cell 2018; 173(4):1003-13.
8. Bhandari V, Hoey C, Liu L, Lalonde E, Ray J, Livingstone J, Lesurf R, Shiah YJ, Vujcic T, Huang XY, Espiritu S, Heisler L, Yousif F, Huang V, Yamaguchi T, Yao C, Sabelnykova V, Fraser M, Chua ML, et al. Molecular landmarks of tumor hypoxia across cancer types. Nat Genet 2019; 51(2): 308-18.
9. Iyer NG, Chua ML. Multidisciplinary team meetings – challenges of implementation science. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2019; 16(4): 205-6.
10. Chua ML, et al. Letter in reply: SARS-CoV-2 transmission in cancer patients of a tertiary hospital in Wuhan. JAMA Oncol 2020; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0980
11. Yu J, Ouyang W, Chua ML, et al. SARS-CoV-2 transmission in cancer patients of a tertiary hospital in Wuhan. JAMA Oncol 2020; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0980
12. Glicksman RM, Tjong MC, Neves-Junior WF, Spratt DE, Chua KC, Mansouri A, Chua ML, et al. Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for the Management of Spinal Metastases: A Review and Synthesis for the Modern Oncologist. JAMA Oncol 2020; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.5351
13. Liu X, Zhang Y, Tang LL, Le QT, Chua ML, et al. The 10-year Landscape of Radiotherapy vs Non-Radiotherapy Oncology Clinical Trials in ClinicalTrials.gov. JAMA Oncol 2018; 4(8): 1073-9.
14. Chua ML, Lo W, Pintilie M, et al. A Prostate Cancer “Nimbosus”: Genomic instability and SChLAP1 dysregulation underpins aggression of intraductal and cribriform sub-pathologies. Eur Urol 2017; 72(5): 665-74. (Platinum Priority and Cover Page of Issue)
15. Chua ML, van der Kwast TH, Bristow RG. Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate gland: Anonymous to Ominous. Eur Urol 2017; 72(4): 496-8.
16. Lalonde E, Alkallas R, Chua ML, et al. Translating a prognostic DNA genomic classifier into the clinic: retrospective validation in 563 localized prostate tumours. Eur Urol 2017; 72(1): 22-31.
17. Guo Y-M, Chen J-R, Feng Y-C, Chua ML, et al. Germline polymorphisms and length of survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: An exome-wide association study in multiple cohorts. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2020; 7(10): 1903727.
18. Zhao C, Miao JJ, Shen GZ, Li JG, Shi M, Zhang N, Hu GQ, Chen XZ, Hu XF, Wu SX, Chen JX, Shao XF, Wang L, Han F, Mai HQ, Chua ML, et al. Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody combined with cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil in patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radical radiotherapy: a multicentre, open-label, Phase II clinical trial. Ann Oncol 2019; 30(4): 637-43.