Kenneth Hung's Research

Research Projects

My principal research interest focuses on mass spectrometry-based biomarker discovery in gastrointestinal disease. In gastroenterology, endoscopy forms the foundation for most diagnostic regimens. As this is an invasive and inconvenient procedure, a diagnostic test that is non-invasive, but still robust, would be of immense value. To achieve this goal, recent advances in proteomic technology now allow us to take a global unbiased view of the entire proteome of very complex biological fluids such as serum or plasma. Initially, we have chosen to focus on biomarkers for colorectal cancer.

As a prelude to human studies, we have chosen analyze the plasma proteomes of two well-defined mouse models of intestinal tumor. From these experiments, we have identified protein plasma signatures that clearly segregate tumor-bearing from control animals. We have also defined protein subsets that can discriminate between tumor-bearing and control animals. Further validation of these candidate markers is currently underway. We have also begun studies in human patients with colorectal cancer. For these experiments, we have obtained pre-diagnostic serum from patients that later develop colorectal cancer. These discovery efforts are currently ongoing. Our research combines an interdisciplinary approach that involves offline protein and peptide biochemistry, tandem mass spectrometry, bioresearch computing, biostatistics, and bioinformatic analysis.

Recent Publications:

• Hung, KE, Volchenboum, S., Kho, AT., Sarracino, D., Georgeon Richard, L., Krastins, B., and Kucherlapati, R. 2006. Discrete Plasma Proteins Predict Disease in Intestinal Tumor Bearing Mice. Manuscript in Preparation.


• Menon, R., Blackwell, TW, Hung, KE, Krastins, B., Sarracino, DA., Omenn, GS., States, DJ. 2006. Comparative Analysis of the Human and Mouse Plasma Proteomes: Correlated Evolution of the Mammalian Plasma Protein Sequence and Abundance. Proteomics. Submitted.


• Hung, KE, Chung, DC. 2006. New Insights into the Molecular Pathogenesis of Colorectal Cancer. Drug Discovery Today: Disease Mechanisms. In Press.


• Hung, KE., Kho, AT., Sarracino, D., Georgeon Richard, L., Krastins, B., Forrester, S., Haab, BB., Kohane, IS., and Kucherlapati, R. 2006. A Mass Spectometry-Based Study of the Plasma Proteome in Intestinal Tumor Bearing Mice. Journal of Proteome Research. 5(8):1866-78.


• Hung, KE, Chung, DC. 2006. Colonoscopy Screening: Today and Tomorrow. Southern Medical Journal. 99(3):240-6.


• Lewis, J., Ng, K., Hung, KE, Bilker, W., Berlin, J., Brensinger, C, Rustgi, A. 2003. Detection of Proximal Adenomatous Polyps with Screening Sigmoidoscopy. Arch Intern Med. 163:413-420.

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