Assoc Prof Chua Lee Kiang Melvin

Dr Melvin Chua is the Head of Department and Senior Consultant for Head and Neck and Thoracic Cancers, Division of Radiation Oncology, and Director of the Data and Computational Science Core at the National Cancer Centre Singapore. He is also a Clinician-Scientist and Principal Investigator of the Tan Chin Tuan Laboratory of Optical Imaging, Photodynamic and Proton Beam Therapy – Precision Radiation Oncology Programme. 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.

Dr Chua is a KOL on NPC and prostate cancer, and he has been invited to speak at more than 100 international meetings. He is also on the scientific advisory board for the NPC Guangzhou-Singapore Trial Network, a board member on the Head Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG) and the Scientific Committee Chair of HNCIG Artificial Intelligence working group.

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 Asia-Pacific Regional Council of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and he is also the mentor for the ASCO Leadership Development Program. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers, with a H-index of 30, including highly cited articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature, Cell, Journal of Clinical Oncology and JAMA Oncology.

• 2021      FAMS, The College of Radiation Oncology and Clinician Scientists, Singapore
• 2013      PhD, University College London, UK
• 2013      F.R.C.R (Clinical Oncology), The Royal College of Radiologists, UK
• 2002      MBBS, National University of Singapore

• Mentor, ASCO Leadership Development Program
• Member, NCCS IT Steering Committee (2021 – Present)
• Director, Data and Computational Science Core (2021 – Present)
• EXCO Member, Singhealth Cluster Artificial Intelligence Program (2021 – Present)
• Member, NCCS Division of Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Sciences Protocol Steering Committee (2021 – Present)
• International Advisory Panel, Fukushima Journal of Medical Science (2021 – Present)
• Co-Director, NCCS-Singhealth Tissue Repository (2020 – Present)
• 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)
• EXCO member, Singapore Society of Oncology (2018 – Present)
• Member, Grant Monitoring Committee of NCCS Research Fund (2018 – Present)
• Member, Clinical Service Line Discussion Group for Head and Neck, Genitourinary, and Nasopharynx Cancers, NCCS (2017 – Present)
• Trustee, Alice's Arc (Children's Cancer Charity, UK; Charity Commission No. 1164253) (2016 – Present)

• Singhealth Excellence Award – Distinguished Researcher Award, Singapore (2021)
• Clinician-Scientist (Investigator) Award, National Medical Research Council (2018, 2021)
• Manpower Development Plan Leadership Award, MOH Health (2020)
• Ferring Singapore Innovation Award (2017)
• ASCO Merit Award, American Society of clinician Oncology (2013, 2016, 2017)
• Sanofi Research Award, Canadian Urologic Oncology Group (2015) 
• Transition Award for Clinician Scientist, National Medical Research Council (2014)

• Explore "Big Data" science to build precise risk stratification models, and for automation of radiotherapy and cancer management
• 'Omics' data to discover novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers of tumour radioresistance
• Novel phase II and III clinical trials in nasopharyngeal (NPC) and prostate cancers (PCa).

• Co-PI, REACT-IrNPC: RadiothErapy dose Adaptation by EBV DNA response to induction ChemoTherapy in Intermediate-risk NasoPharyngeal Carcinoma: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Phase III Trial (NCT04448522; Ongoing)
• Co-PI, A Biomarker Enrichment, Phase II study of 177Lu-DOTA0-Tyr3-Octreotate in Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Cancer (Ongoing)
• Co-PI, Multicentre, randomised controlled Phase III trial of adjuvant capecitabine in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NCT02143388; Ongoing)
• Co-PI, EP-STAR: EPstein-barr virus DNA response to Systemic therapy for Treatment Adaptation in high-Risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma – A multi-centre, single-arm, Phase II, biomarker-guided umbrella trial (NCT04072107; Ongoing)
• PI, PROSTAR: Prospective single-arm Phase II stereotactic body radiotherapy for organ-confined prostate cancer (NCT02313298; Ongoing
• Co-PI, Multicentre, randomised controlled Phase III trial of locoregional radiotherapy for responders to chemotherapy in recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NCT02111460; Completed)
• Co-PI, Multicentre, randomised controlled Phase III trial of induction gemcitabine-cisplatin and cisplatin and radiotherapy versus cisplatin and radiotherapy alone in stage 3-4 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NCT01872962; Completed)
• Co-PI, Single-arm Phase II trial of nimotuzumab in combination with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil in recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NCT01616849; Completed)

• Iyer NG, Chua ML. Multidisciplinary team meetings – challenges of implementation science. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2019; 16(4): 205-6.
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• 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)
• Chua ML, van der Kwast TH, Bristow RG. Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate gland: Anonymous to Ominous. Eur Urol 2017; 72(4): 496-8.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.