- Studentship in 2023 at University of Hong Kong
About Yee Lok Tsoi’s work
Yee Lok Tsoi is a researcher in the field of liver cancer biology. Her current research focuses on the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. In particular, she is looking at the role of ANXA3 in drug resistance and the potential use of a humanised ANXA3 neutralising antibody in combination with existing targeted therapeutics or immunotherapies.
Her research addresses the challenges faced by patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer, due to resistance to current treatment options.
The protein annexin A3 (ANXA3) is highly expressed in HCC and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Previous research has shown that ANXA3 promotes cancer and stem cell-like features in liver cancer stem cells through JNK pathway deregulation. Neutralising ANXA3 with a mouse monoclonal antibody has led to suppressed tumour growth and self-renewal, and its combinational use with Sorafenib has shown promising results.
Tsoi is conducting translational study of a humanised anti-ANXA3 antibody alone and in combination with Sorafenib or Lenvatinib as a potential novel HCC treatment strategy. The role of ANXA3 in regulating the immune landscape of HCC is not fully understood and the study aims to fill this gap in our knowledge through flow cytometry analysis and single-cell RNA sequencing. The potential use of the humanised ANXA3 antibody combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors for HCC treatment will also be explored.
Biography
Yee Lok Tsoi graduated as a Bachelor in Biomedical Sciences from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong in 2023. While an undergraduate, she was the recipient of the Medical Dean's Scholarship, and she also earned a place on the Dean's Honours List. In 2022, she received a Hong Kong Life Sciences Scholarship Award from the Hong Kong Life Sciences Society. In the same year, she was awarded a place on the Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program at the University of Hong Kong, where she is now carrying out her PhD studies and research.