article about the career path of dr. waun ki hong

8/11/2019 Article about the career path of Dr. Waun Ki Hong

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A Cancer Pioneers Personal and Professional Journey: A Korean

American Cancer Researcher Discusses His Lifes Journey and

the Passion That Spurred His Success

Waun Ki Hong, M.D. [American Cancer Society Professor]and Charles A. LeMaistre

[Distinguished Chair in Thoracic Oncology Head, Division of Cancer Medicine, Professor/

Chair]

Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson

Cancer Center

I am honored to support this ground-breaking initiative, the Korean American Cancer Control

Academy. Its also personal a joy to return to Boston, which in many ways is home to me; I

spent many years in Boston before moving to Texas. Its a wonderful opportunity to see many

old friends, especially Drs. Howard Koh and Fred Li. Id like to congratulate Dr. Moon Chenand Howard for making this conference so tremendously successful. I was also extremely

inspired by Dr. Hesung Chun Kohs lecture. Its a tough act to follow.

When I met Howard the first time in 1978, I was very impressed. He was then a senior medical

resident at Boston City Hospital, where he later served as chief medical resident. The Chief of

Medicine, Dr. Alan Cohen, first urged me to meet Howard. Now I understand why Howard

has been so successful, professionally and personally; I fully understand after hearing the

lecture from Dr. Hesung Chun Koh. Howards mom.

For this presentation, Howard asked me to give a talk from the bottom of your heart. Ive

given hundreds of scientific talks virtually everywhere in the world, but never one about myself.

This is a first for me, and it has been a very tough task. So, here is my attempt. In the following,

I will review four main periods of my life: My life in Korea before coming to this country.

My internship and residency in the United States.

My academic career, which started in 1975.

Our move to Texas in 1984, which really culminated my academic life.

Memories of Childhood in Korea

I was born in 1942, during the Japanese occupation of Korea in Word War II. Despite the

tumultuous time in the world, my early life was peaceful. I was the sixth of seven children, and

we lived in a very small town, a suburb about 30 miles from Seoul. My father, a small-business

man, wasnt very successful, but our lives seemed quite pleasant.

In 1950, when I was 7 years old, the Korean War broke out. Those years were difficult for all

of us. You can imagine how underprivileged and underserved the schools were during the war

and the early years of recovery. A decent education was almost an impossible dream.

Nonetheless, I ended up in medical school in 1961. Fortunately, I had a wonderful older brother,

Suk Ki Hong, M.D., Ph.D., a prominent Korean-born scientist and physiologist. After spending

7 years in the United States, he returned to Korea in 1960. From that time, he really involved

me in my school work. He was more than a mentor; he was like another father to me. Later on,

NIH Public AccessAuthor ManuscriptKorean Korean Am Stud Bull. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2007 March 7.

Published in final edited form as:

Korean Korean Am Stud Bull. 2003 ; 13(1/2): 118133.

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he became the chairman of the physiology department at University of Hawaii and eventually

moved to the SUNY system in Buffalo. I was deeply saddened when he passed away 2 years

ago after losing his battle with Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers. I could never thank my

brother enough for everything he did for me. I have tried to live up to his example in my

mentorship of other young physicians and researchers.

In 1967, I graduated from medical school and then served 3 years in the Korean military. In

1968, I was in Vietnam and was the flight surgeon responsible for transporting woundedsoldiers from Saigon and Vietnam to Clarke Air Base in the Phillipines and then to Daegu in

South Korea.

So, basically, I experienced three wars. I was born during World War II, grew up during the

Korean War, and served in the Vietnam War. But those years werent all bad. In 1968, God

helped me meet my wonderful wife, Mihwa, and we were married the following year. And

then the next year, there was a change in the U.S. immigration laws. I felt that America would

offer more opportunity for making the scientific advances I dreamed of, so we applied for and

were granted immigration visas.

Internship and Residency in the United States

We arrived in New York City in June 1970. My wife was eight months pregnant, and I had

$451 in my wallet. I landed as an intern in Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, a community hospital. It

was the only job I could get at the time; as a foreigner, I could not obtain a position in a teaching

hospital.

At Bronx-Lebanon, they needed slaves, not interns, i.e., people who could provide cheap labor

in the emergency room and inpatient service every other night. They needed people who would

hold clamps for hours while the surgeon operated. It was an every-other-night on-call schedule,

for 12 months, and there was no teaching. The experience was brutal. I was surprised; it was

not what I had expected when we decided to move to this country.

Furthermore, there were tremendous language and cultural barriers. I could barely speak

English. I would think that I had communicated clearly, but Americans couldnt understand

me. It was difficult to take detailed histories from patients under these circumstances.

During this time, my first son was born, on August 8, 1970. We were living in a small studio,

and this kid was wild. Becoming a parent was very difficult, although also extremely fulfilling.

Our son was a lot of fun and engaging, but when Id get home after two straight on-call shifts

thats 48 hours and try to get some rest, he was very wild.

The next challenge was to procure a residency position. I was interested in internal medicine,

but nobody wanted to write a letter of recommendation for me. So I approached one of the

orthopedic surgeons, whom I had faithfully assisted through many grueling operations by

holding clamps for 5 or 6 hours. The surgeon wrote a two-paragraph letter saying, in short,

This guy assisted my operations, and hes very strong at holding clamps. Theres no way to

obtain a residency with a letter like that!

I eventually applied to hundreds of hospitals but received few responses. With the internshipyear almost completed, I received a last-minute offer from the Boston V.A. Medical Center

after one of their trainees had dropped out. Boston! My brother advised me to accept

immediately. So, it is by accident that I ended up in Boston the first time. In retrospect, Im

sure God was helping me.

Hong and LeMaistre Page 2

Korean Korean Am Stud Bull. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2007 March 7.

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The V.A. Medical Center in Boston presented an environment quite different from New York.

It was much more of a teaching hospital and offered more opportunities. I established some

very strong professional relationships during that time. I was particularly fortunate to have an

excellent mentor, Dr. Joel Caslowitz, who was the Assistant Chief of Medicine. I found success

there and became the chief resident. When my residency was complete, I received an absolutely

fantastic recommendation not like the previous one!

Throughout my early years of training, my time in the military, and even before that, Iestablished my own discipline. I always wanted to be independent. At that time, I still hadnt

decided on oncology as my subspecialty; I wasnt sure yet what I wanted to do. But I took care

of many cancer patients at the V. A., and I began to feel that surely there was more that could

be done for them. I became especially intrigued with improving the chances of survival and

the quality of life in people with tobacco related cancers. I believe that I was guided into

oncology through my V.A. experience, and Im very grateful that I was led into such a

rewarding career path.

Academic Medicine and a Passion for Reseach

I decided that oncology would he my field and was accepted into a very competitive fellowship

program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1973. My second son was born during

my fellowship. I had a very good experience there in my 2 years as a medical oncology fellow,

although I didnt yet know whether I wanted to enter academic medicine or the private sector.

In some ways, my fellowship experience itself was marginal -- more accurately, I felt marginal.

When I started it, I was one of the worst fellows in the program. Despite 2 years experience

in Boston, I still had significant cultural and language problems. Many of the fellows had come

from premier residency programs at Columbia and Cornell and had more experience with

cancer patients. I was way behind; I really started at the bottom. But whats important for you

to know, especially you young folks here, is that its not important who starts first, but, rather,

who finishes first. Of the 14 members of my fellowship program, I was the first one to become

a full professor, which I accomplished at the age of 42.

Many of my cancer patients at Sloan-Kettering died. This bothered me a great deal, especially

deaths in the prime of life, like young men with testicular cancer. We didnt have drugs like

cisplatin at the time. One of my patients then was Brian Piccolo, a Chicago Bears running backand a tremendous football player, who died of testicular cancer. Another patient was Connie

Ryan, the author of The Longest Day. A smoker for many years, he died of lung cancer.

Although disturbed by what I saw, I also became intrigued with finding out what we could do

to help patients. It was an area wide-open for investigation, and the more patients I treated, the

more ideas I had. It was during that fellowship that I developed the passion for research and

academia that would fuel the remainder of my career.

I finished the fellowship in 1975, at a time when there were fewer than 600 board-certified

medical oncologists in the country. I could have easily obtained a job in the private sector,

opened up my own private practice, and made really good money. I received some very

lucrative offers. But I decided to return to Boston, even though there were no jobs around. I

applied for some jobs at Harvard I can tell some interesting stories about that and Tufts.Nothing. Fortunately, I had made some friends at the Boston V.A., and they invited me to

return as Chief of Medical Oncology. The only problem was, there were no Indians. I was both

the chief and the Indian: Chief was just a title.

Another thing that attracted me back to Boston was that I had become a die-hard Red Sox fan.

I attended many games as a resident and had remained a big fan. When I was in New York

City and the Sox played in California, Id religiously listen on the radio till 1 or 2 a.m. My wife



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thought I was crazy. When I returned to the V.A. as a faculty member, the first thing I did was

say, We have to find an apartment near Fenway Park. So we did! That was the year for the

Red Sox 1975. The Boston Red Sox went all the way to the World Series to play against

the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, they lost in the seventh game. In fact, I ended up attending

the first game of the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Don Gullett pitched against Luis Tiant;

I still remember it was a 7 to 0 win over Cincinnati.

This time at the V.A., it was different. I was no longer a fellow; I had been trained at MemorialSloan-Kettering, so I had more credibility. Whenever a cancer patient was admitted, the

attending physician or the students would call me. All of a sudden, I felt responsible. Everyone

looked to me for leadership. But I had only completed a 2-year fellowship. There was no way

that I could be knowledgeable about the whole spectrum of cancer patients. At the time, there

were more than 100 cancer inpatients out of 900 beds and no other cancer specialist.

While I was at the V.A., I tried to attract students interested in cancer; in 1975, I started a

fellowship program. Im proud to say that when I left the Boston V.A. to go to Texas in 1984,

there were six faculty members covering hematology/oncology and we had produced 13 board

certified medical oncologists. This program was considered one of the strongest clinical

programs in oncology at that time in Boston. Two of the best physicians I recruited were Drs.

Dan Karp and Jim Abbruzzese from Dana Farber Cancer Center. I later recruited them to join

me at M. D. Anderson, where Dr. Abbruzzese is now Chairman of the GI Medical OncologyDepartment and Dr. Karp is Deputy Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine. The Harvard

people never respected us. I was absolutely furious about that.

We were doing very good work at the V.A. My deepest wish was to improve the quality of life

for patients who had lost so much to cancer. In fact, one of my earliest accomplishments

one that still makes me proud was developing a way to treat laryngeal cancer patients without

removing the voice box. At the time, surgical removal was the standard treatment. The quality

of life for patients who have lost the ability to talk was dismal. I was fortunate to conduct some

cisplatin-based chemotherapy trials in the late 1970s, with very promising initial results. We

showed that chemotherapy and radiation could work as well as surgery without compromising

survival, and we could save the human voice box in the process. It was a very exciting finding,

but a much bigger trial was needed to confirm our results.

With the help of Dr. Gregory Wolf from Michigan, I established the V.A. Cooperative Group

for Laryngeal Cancer Study, and we successfully competed for about $4 million in grant

money. We conducted a rigorous study of over 330 randomized patients and proved our

hypothesis that using chemotherapy and radiation can be as effective as surgery without

compromising survival. This landmark study was published in theNew England Journal of

Medicine,and our findings are now considered standard treatment. We could cure cancers

while improving the quality of life.

In 1980, we developed some exciting research projects using chemo-prevention. The field was

in its infancy. The attitude was restricted to Chemotherapy first, radiotherapy, surgery

weve got to cure the cancer! Also, the concept at the time was dose-intensity to cure the

cancer, you had to deliver high doses of chemotherapy. As a junior physician, I challenged the

senior professors by saying, This patient had widespread disease, had multiple chemotherapiesbefore, so why would extremely high doses help? I used the analogy, Why dont you just

bang your head against a concrete wall and see who hurts?! It hurts your head. In beating up

patients and giving high-dose chemotherapy, patients die at tremendous cost. Obviously, the

result of the treatment is very disappointing.

Michael Sporn, who was then at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), introduced the concept

of chemoprevention in 1976. Why do we have to wait until patients develop full-blown,



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Pursuing Chemoprevention Research

M. D. Anderson allowed me to study chemopreventive therapies in earnest. I was able to

establish a chemoprevention program and garner significant funding support from the NCI. I

collaborated with many talented scientists here and was able to recruit more. Shortly after

coming to M. D. Anderson, I met Dr. Reuben Lotan, a retinoid biochemist who has played an

integral role in many of my studies. In 1988, I brought an outstanding physician on board when

I recruited Dr. Scott Lippman as assistant professor of medicine for the Thoracic/Head and

Neck Medical Oncology Department. He later became chairman of the CancerChemoprevention Department, serving as principal investigator for a number of translational

chemoprevention studies and as a guiding force behind much of our work. Some of the other

team members who have played critical roles in our research include Drs. Walter Hittleman,

Jin Soo Lee, Jonathan Kurie, Fadlo Khuri, Gary Clayman, Frank Fossella, Jack Lee, Helmuth

Goepfert, Margaret Spitz, and Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou.

With a top-notch team assembled, we developed a comprehensive, multidisciplinary

chemoprevention research program. We were doing groundbreaking translational studies,

taking laboratory findings and rapidly translating them into new clinical treatments. I focused

on head and neck cancer and, later, lung cancer.

Initially, we began on a small scale, looking further into the use of retinoids for head and neck

cancer. We established more evidence that the agent is effective in reversing oral precancerouslesions and in preventing recurrences of head and neck cancers. Our demonstration that

chemoprevention works opened the door to research into many new promising agents. This

concept was immediately embraced by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel

Project, which subsequently developed the tamoxifen trial and proved this chemopreventive

agent to be very effective in preventing breast cancer in high-risk groups.

Fueled by our early successes, our chemoprevention research program grew exponentially in

1991, with the award of a Program Project grant primarily supported by the NCI. We began

large-scale clinical trials of retinoids to confirm their role in preventing or delaying head and

neck cancers, along with related laboratory and translational studies.

Since I came to M. D. Anderson, my group has been awarded a total of $40 million in NCI

peer-reviewed funding. These grants have allowed us to make truly innovative-progress. Wevepublished more than 200 papers and have come to be known as the premiere chemoprevention

research program in the country. Because of these pioneering studies, I am honored to be

considered as one of the countrys first founders of clinical chemoprevention.

Eventually, I expanded my chemoprevention research into lung cancer using several different

retinoids, the COX-2-inhibitor drug Celecoxib, and the EGF-receptor drug Iressa. In laboratory

studies, weve been looking into ways to identify people who are genetically at high risk of

developing cancer, with the ultimate goal of identifying them early and proactively treating

them with the right chemopreventive agents. This is an area in which I see tremendous potential

for the future. Its truly gratifying to help establish a whole new approach to cancer, and its

exciting to look ahead and imagine a time when a simple blood test might help people avoid

getting a deadly cancer altogether.

And also recently, the NCI awarded us a new, $13.2 million Specialized Programs of Research

Excellence (SPORE) grant for head and neck cancer research. These funds will support

investigation into several different areas, including identifying people at high risk for head and

neck cancer, studying molecularly based therapies, looking at gene therapy as a

chemopreventive agent, and further examining the power of different combinations of vitamin

A compounds in preventing cancer cells from multiplying.



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Growing Professionally

As my work expanded, so did my role at M. D. Anderson. In 1988, I was appointed Chief of

Thoracic Oncology, in addition to my role as Chief of Head and Neck Medical Oncology. With

our continued success, the two sections were redesignated the Department of Thoracic/Head

and Neck Medical Oncology in 1993, and I have served as chairman of this group since then.

Im proud to say that it has become the premiere program of its type in the country, thanks in

large part to a committed team of talented physician-researchers. In 2001, I was again

promoted, to the position of Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine, with authority over 15departments and 275 of M. D. Andersons faculty members. In this role, Im working to ensure

that our division offers the countrys best programs in patient care, research, education,

training, and fellowship opportunities.

Over the course of my career, I have published close to 550 scientific publications: more than

375 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 110 invited articles, and 62 book chapters. In addition,

Ive coauthored eight books and have given almost 300 speeches, lectures, and presentations

to audiences all over the world. Most recently, I gave the presidential address at the American

Association of Cancer Researchers (AACR) 2002 annual meeting in San Francisco. This fall,

I will deliver the keynote address at the 61 st annual meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association

in Tokyo.

Im particularly proud of certain honors and awards that I have received over the years. In1988, M. D. Anderson presented me with the prestigious Charles A. LeMaistre Chair in

Thoracic Oncology, which was later upgraded to the Charles A. LeMaistre Distinguished

Chair. In 1996, I received a Clinical Research Professorship from the American Cancer Society.

This lifetime award is one of only seven in the country. For the past 10 years, Ive been listed

in The Best Doctors in Americafor my work in head, neck, and lung cancer.

One important highlight of my career was being elected to the presidency of AACR for the

year 2001. This 15,000-member organization, started in 1907, is one of the oldest, most

prestigious cancer research organizations in the world. I am very proud to be the organizations

first Asian-American president. Ive also served on its board of directors, as program committee

chairman, and in a number of other capacities. In 1993, AACR presented me with its Richard

and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award; in 2000, I was honored to receive the Joseph H.

Burchenal Award.

One area I have worked to expand in the AACR is its international membership, influence, and

interests. Ive chaired several important international AACR conferences, including the

AACR/ Japanese Cancer Center Association Meeting. In the fall of 2002, I chaired an

international conference, Frontiers of Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston. In 2004,

I will also chair the 6th Joint Conference of the AACR and the Japanese Cancer Association,

which will be held in Hawaii. I have had the opportunity to organize or chair international

research conferences for a number of other organizations, in locations ranging from the United

States, Italy, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, France, Austria, and the United Kingdom. I

helped obtain private funding to establish a yearly travel award competition that allows dozens

of promising young Asian scientists to attend the AACR annual meetings and present their

research findings.

Ive also been active in the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which presented me with

its distinguished David A. Karnofsky Award in 2000. Over the years, Ive been able to help

several notable organizations set national policies for cancer research and education. In

addition to the organizations already mentioned. Im involved with the NCI, the Food and Drug

Administrations Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, the Association of American

Physicians, and the American Board of Internal Medicines Subspecialty Board of Medical



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Oncology, which is responsible for certifying medical oncologists in the United States. I serve

on the scientific advisory boards of numerous national and international cancer institutes,

including the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, the Yale Cancer Center, the University of

California at San Diego, the Fox Chase Cancer Center, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the

San Antonio Cancer Institute, the University of Alabama, and Vanderbilt University. I am the

deputy editor of Clinical Cancer Researchand serve on the editorial boards of many other

prestigious journals, including Cancer Research, The International Journal of Radiation

Oncology, Biology and Physics, and The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

As a strong proponent of international communication and collaboration, Ive been honored

with international recognition on several occasions, especially by my native Korea. In 1994,

the Sam-Sung Foundation in South Korea presented me with its Ho-Am Prize in Medicine and

the Korean Broadcasting System gave me its Korean Overseas Compatriots Award in Science.

My alma mater, Yon-Sci University, presented me with its Distinguished Alumni Award in

1995, an honorary D.M.Sc. and the Grand Prize in Medicine in 2000, and a Distinguished

Achievement Award in 2001. In 2001, I was also presented with the Gold Medal of Paris from

the International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment, and this year I was chosen one of 20

Outstanding Korean Medical Scientists by the Korean Medical Association.

Giving Back and Having a Passion

The exciting, cutting-edge research that Ive been able to pursue at M. D. Anderson has beena rare opportunity. I truly dont think that any other institution could match it. Weve earned

the trust and respect not only of peers and colleagues around the world but also of some of the

most sought-after funding organizations. Weve been very fortunate in having brought in over

$70 million in grants since Ive been in Texas. Good-quality research depends on teamwork,

and we have been lucky to have a very good team, a solid infrastructure, and strong institutional

leadership behind us. Ive had the good fortune to work with some of the most innovative and

talented people in the field.

One of the most important things you can contribute as a physician-scientist is nurturing and

training first-rate young people and preparing the next generation of researchers. Ive had the

opportunity to be involved in training more than 200 young cancer researchers, about 60 of

them from Korea. In fact, of those 60 people, about 15 now chair cancer programs or direct

cancer centers in Korea. I think they are doing a wonderful job, and Im so happy that so many

people from the Asian countries came to us, took full advantage of what we could offer, and

went home to do wonderful work.

As a foreigner, I started at the bottom of the ladder in this country and moved up. The higher

you go, the more complicated things get and the more politics there are. Somehow, though,

Ive been very successful. People ask me, How? You dont speak English as your native

language; you dont look Caucasian. What is your secret?

When I look back now at the large body of work Ive been able to produce, Im somewhat

awed and humbled. Im deeply honored to have been able to make some contributions that

change the way we think about treating cancer and that move the world just a little closer to

eliminating the disease. As a boy in Korea dreaming of coming to the land of opportunity, I

never could have imagined I would achieve so much.

Certainly, it took a lot of hard work and tenacity, but I cant take full credit for my success.

Ive been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time, working with the right people.

Ive had wonderful teams of scientists who were as committed to this quest as I was. And Ive

had a very good, very supportive family, especially my wife, Mihwa, and my two sons, Ed and

Burt. Beyond that, its important to have good faith and integrity. If you have integrity, people



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will listen to what you say and respect what youre doing. One of the most important aspects

of integrity is generosity. I try never to take anything away from anybody. Especially in

academia, theres always a question is it your idea or my idea? I really feel that its not

important whose idea it was. If you do a good job and make some important contributions,

who benefits? Patients. And thats what really matters; thats what were all here for.

Which brings me to the most important ingredient of success: passion. I know that what has

made the crucial difference in my career is the passion and deep commitment I feel for mywork. Honors and awards are nice, but there is truly nothing more gratifying than looking into

the face of a patient who may have lived because of something I did. At the end of the day,

thats what really matters.



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2. .

My mentor throughout my career until his death two years ago was my older brother, Suk Ki

Hong, M.D., Ph.D. (r), a prominent scientist and physiologist. This photo of the two of us was

taken in 1990.



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3. .

I became a devoted Red sox fan in my early days in Boston, and the Red Sox remain my favorite

sports team today. Here, Im watchng their spring training in Winter Haven. Florida, in 1982.



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4. .

My wife and I raised two wonderful boys, Ed and Burt, who are now grown. This is a recent

family photo. (l to r) Mihwa, Ed, Burt, me.



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5. .

Here I am visiting with John Mendelsohn, M.D., President of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.



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6. .

I was very proud to he chosen as one of a select few of M. D. Andersons top faculty who as

part of the organizations 60th anniversary celebration in 2001were invited to attend aweekend with former President and Mrs. Bush at their summer house in Kennebunkport,

Maine.



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7. .

In 1988, I was named to M.D. Andersons prestigious Charles A. LeMaistre Chair in Thoracic

Oncology, which was later upgraded to the Charles A. Lemaistre Distinguishes Chair.



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8. .Here I am accepting an honorary D.M.Sc. degree from my alma mater Yonsei University, in

2000. The school also presented me with the Grand Prize in Medicine that year and a

Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995.



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9. .

In 2001, I was fortunate to meet Queen Silvia, the Queen of Sweden, at a symposium on

molecular targets in cancer therapy. The meeting brought together representatives from the

European Organization for Research and Treatment (EORTC), the National Cancer Institute

and the American Association for Cancer Research.



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