Dr. Kuo-Shyan Lin

Dr. Kuo-Shyan Lin studied nuclear engineering and health physics at the National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He then undertook his doctoral and postdoctoral training in radiochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After continuing his work as a Research Associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, and then as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lin joined BCCA in 2009. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology at UBC, and a Senior Scientist in the Department of Molecular Oncology at the BCCA. He also heads the Radiochemistry Program at the BCCA Centre of Excellence for Functional Cancer Imaging.

Current Research Focus

Dr. Lin’s research focuses on the development of targeted nuclear imaging and radioligand therapy to improve the outcome of cancer patients. The main cancer markers he is targeting include receptors of gastrin-releasing peptide, somatostatin, bradykinin, melanocortin and neuropeptide Y, as well as cancer-associate enzymes such as prostate-specific membrane antigen, carbonic anhydrase IX and fibroblast activation protein.

Example Project

 “Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals to Improve Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment” Despite decades of research, cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide. As early detection and treatment can greatly improve patient outcomes, more effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents are urgently needed. Several radioactive imaging and therapeutic agents targeting various cancer markers have been developed and successfully translated into the clinic to save cancer patients’ lives. Unfortunately, the overall response rates to these targeted radioligand therapies are low. In addition, relapsed patients normally resist to previous treatments due to the loss of the specific cancer maker in recurrent tumors. This emphasizes the urgent need to improve current targeted radioligand therapies, as well as to identify and validate novel cancer markers, and to develop potential imaging and therapeutic agents targeting these cancer markers. Our lab has been working on the development and evaluation of radioactive imaging and therapeutic agents targeting various cancer markers which are present in abundance in cancer cells, but are not detected in most normal tissues. The different distribution patterns between cancerous and normal tissues make these makers promising targets. The success of our research will generate more effective targeted cancer imaging and therapeutic agents. Once translated to the clinic, these novel agents will significantly improve the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer patients.

Research Keywords

Radiopharmaceuticals, Positron Emission Tomography, Cancer Imaging, Endoradiotherapy, Peptide Receptors, Molecular Imaging, Nuclear Medicine