Ching-Hon Pui, MD

In the 1970s, the cure rate for ALL was approximately 50%. However, scientific and medical advances have since provided clinicians with more treatment options and increased the survival rate to over 90%. Yet, some patients relapse and those who do respond to treatment can develop long-term side effects due to their cancer treatment.

My research is focused on identifying the factors leading to successful treatment, discovering novel treatments and optimizing treatment to minimize potential long-term side effects. 

We introduced the use of minimal/measurable residual disease measurement for risk-adapted treatment which has substantially improved precision treatment and the cure rate of this disease. This measurement for risk-directed treatment has become a standard of care for pediatric and adult leukemia.

For the past 20 years, clinical investigators have been stymied by a lack of novel therapeutics targeting ALL. However, recent breakthroughs in science have brought forth novel treatment options. My work focuses on assessing new antileukemic drugs and therapeutic strategies and determining if they have increased efficacy compared to the current standard of care.

As we look to advance and optimize the standard of care for ALL, we use a precision approach to treatment–providing only necessary treatments which carry the lowest risk for long-term side effects. For example, children with ALL were historically treated with brain irradiation. This affected IQ, the endocrine system and sometimes caused brain cancer and other health issues. Our work was instrumental in showing that ALL can be successfully treated without irradiation, all while maintaining the survival rate and bypassing the risk for long-term effects. By continuing to analyze the effect of cancer-related treatments on children with ALL, we can increase quality of life and decrease the risk for cancer treatment-related health issues in the future.  

Dr. Pui is a pediatric oncologist who received his MD from National Taiwan University. He joined St. Jude in 1977 and has dedicated his clinical and research efforts to advancing our understanding of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and improving the therapeutic approaches used to treat this disease. Dr. Pui is a Member of the St. Jude faculty in the Departments of Oncology, Pathology and Global Pediatric Medicine.  He is also a co-leader of the Hematological Malignancies Program, Director of the China Region for St. Jude Global, an American Cancer Society Professor and the Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair of Leukemia Research.