Hyunseok Kang, MD
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr.Kang joined UCSF from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD where he was an Assistant Professor of Oncology, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr.Kang completed his medical degree and public health degree at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, then came to the US and had residency training at St.Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center/Columbia University in New York City. He completed hematology and medical oncology fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Dr.Kang's research focus is development of clinical trials with novel therapeutic agents for patients with head and neck cancers. He has conducted/participated a number of clinical trials with immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy agents.

• The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in salivary gland cancers treated with pembrolizumab.
  Head & neck 2023 Lee RH, Truong A, Wu X, Kang H, Algazi AP, El-Sayed IH, George JR, Heaton CM, Ryan WR, Ha PK, Wai KC
• Treatment Modality Impact on Patient-Reported Quality of Life in Human Papilloma Virus-Associated Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.
  The Laryngoscope 2023 Plonowska-Hirschfeld KA, Gulati A, Stephens EM, Ochoa E, Xu MJ, Ha PK, Heaton CM, Yom SS, Chan JW, Algazi A, Kang H, Ryan WR
• A prospective evaluation of neck and shoulder function following treatments of early-stage human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx cancer.
  Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery 2023 Gulati A, Plonowska-Hirschfeld K, Stephens EM, Kansara S, Zebolsky AL, Ochoa E, Xu MJ, Ha PK, Heaton CM, Yom SS, Chan JW, Algazi AP, Kang H, Ryan WR
• Clinical Trial Development in TP53-Mutated Locally Advanced and Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
  Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2022 Rodriguez CP, Kang H, Geiger JL, Burtness B, Chung CH, Pickering CR, Fakhry C, Le QT, Yom SS, Galloway TJ, Golemis E, Li A, Shoop J, Wong S, Mehra R, Skinner H, Saba NF, Flores ER, Myers JN, Ford JM, …
• Biomarkers predictive of response to pembrolizumab in head and neck cancer.
  Cancer medicine 2022 Pfister DG, Haddad RI, Worden FP, Weiss J, Mehra R, Chow LQM, Liu SV, Kang H, Saba NF, Wirth LJ, Sukari A, Massarelli E, Ayers M, Albright A, Webber AL, Mogg R, Lunceford J, Huang L, Cristescu R, …
• Approaches to the Management of Metastatic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.
  Cancers 2022 Lee RH, Wai KC, Chan JW, Ha PK, Kang H
• Tumour-agnostic efficacy and safety of selpercatinib in patients with RET fusion-positive solid tumours other than lung or thyroid tumours (LIBRETTO-001): a phase 1/2, open-label, basket trial.
  The Lancet. Oncology 2022 Subbiah V, Wolf J, Konda B, Kang H, Spira A, Weiss J, Takeda M, Ohe Y, Khan S, Ohashi K, Soldatenkova V, Szymczak S, Sullivan L, Wright J, Drilon A
• Phase II Study of Enzalutamide for Patients With Androgen Receptor-Positive Salivary Gland Cancers (Alliance A091404).
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022 Ho AL, Foster NR, Zoroufy AJ, Campbell JD, Worden F, Price K, Adkins D, Bowles DW, Kang H, Burtness B, Sherman E, Morton R, Morris LGT, Nadeem Z, Katabi N, Munster P, Schwartz GK
• Non-Iodine-Avid Disease Is Highly Prevalent in Distant Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancer With Papillary Histology.
  The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2022 Soe MH, Chiang JM, Flavell RR, Khanafshar E, Mendoza L, Kang H, Liu C
• Influence of tumor mutational burden, inflammatory gene expression profile, and PD-L1 expression on response to pembrolizumab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
  Journal for immunotherapy of cancer 2022 Haddad RI, Seiwert TY, Chow LQM, Gupta S, Weiss J, Gluck I, Eder JP, Burtness B, Tahara M, Keam B, Kang H, Muro K, Albright A, Mogg R, Ayers M, Huang L, Lunceford J, Cristescu R, Cheng J, Mehra R
• Real-World Experience of NTRK Fusion-Positive Thyroid Cancer.
  JCO precision oncology 2022 Park JC, Ashok A, Liu C, Kang H
• What’s New in Molecular Targeted Therapies for Thyroid Cancer? Korean J Head Neck Oncol
  What’s New in Molecular Targeted Therapies for Thyroid Cancer? Korean J Head Neck Oncol 2021 Min S, Kang H
• Therapeutic implications of activating noncanonical PIK3CA mutations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
  The Journal of clinical investigation 2021 Jin N, Keam B, Cho J, Lee MJ, Kim HR, Torosyan H, Jura N, Ng PK, Mills GB, Li H, Zeng Y, Barbash Z, Tarcic G, Kang H, Bauman JE, Kim MO, VanLandingham NK, Swaney DL, Krogan NJ, Johnson DE, Grandis JR
• Effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on cognitive impairment in colorectal cancer: evidence from Korean National Health Insurance Database Cohort.
  Epidemiology and health 2021 Kim K, Kim CW, Shin A, Kang H, Jung SJ
• Treatment of Fanconi Anemia-Associated Head and Neck Cancer: Opportunities to Improve Outcomes.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2021 Lee RH, Kang H, Yom SS, Smogorzewska A, Johnson DE, Grandis JR
• Ovarian Failure Preceding Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Identifies an Adult-Onset Cancer-Prone Syndrome Caused by FANCM Mutations.
  JCO precision oncology 2021 Vellanki PJ, DeBoy EA, Bawadkji MM, Schuchter L, Rooper L, Mehra R, Kang H, Armanios M
• Molecular Markers that Matter in Salivary Malignancy.
  Otolaryngologic clinics of North America 2021 Wai KC, Kang H, Ha PK
• Newly Identified Members of FGFR1 Splice Variants Engage in Cross-talk with AXL/AKT Axis in Salivary Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.
  Cancer research 2021 Humtsoe JO, Kim HS, Leonard B, Ling S, Keam B, Marchionni L, Afsari B, Considine M, Favorov AV, Fertig EJ, Kang H, Ha PK
• CYLD Alterations in the Tumorigenesis and Progression of Human Papillomavirus-Associated Head and Neck Cancers.
  Molecular cancer research : MCR 2020 Cui Z, Kang H, Grandis JR, Johnson DE
• Efficacy of Selpercatinib in RET-Altered Thyroid Cancers.
  The New England journal of medicine 2020 Wirth LJ, Sherman E, Robinson B, Solomon B, Kang H, Lorch J, Worden F, Brose M, Patel J, Leboulleux S, Godbert Y, Barlesi F, Morris JC, Owonikoko TK, Tan DSW, Gautschi O, Weiss J, de la Fouchardière C…
• The efficacy of anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
  Oral oncology 2020 Park JC, Durbeck J, Boudadi K, Ho WJ, Kang H
• Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck: what internists should know.
  The Korean journal of internal medicine 2020 Jung K, Narwal M, Min SY, Keam B, Kang H
• Targeted therapy for advanced salivary gland carcinoma based on molecular profiling: results from MyPathway, a phase IIa multiple basket study.
  Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology 2019 Kurzrock R, Bowles DW, Kang H, Meric-Bernstam F, Hainsworth J, Spigel DR, Bose R, Burris H, Sweeney CJ, Beattie MS, Blotner S, Schulze K, Cuchelkar V, Swanton C
• Exceptional responses to pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 high expressing salivary duct carcinomas.
  Head & neck 2018 Park JC, Ma TM, Rooper L, Hembrough T, Foss RD, Schmitt NC, Sawhney R, Flanders A, Kang H
• Pattern of planned systemic therapy usage in newly diagnosed, nonmetastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in a commercially insured population in the United States.
  Head & neck 2018 Park JC, Gourin CG, Kiess AP, Mehra R, Forastiere AA, Kang H
• Genomic Profiling of Parathyroid Carcinoma Reveals Genomic Alterations Suggesting Benefit from Therapy.
  The oncologist 2018 Kang H, Pettinga D, Schubert AD, Ladenson PW, Ball DW, Chung JH, Schrock AB, Madison R, Frampton GM, Stephens PJ, Ross JS, Miller VA, Ali SM
• PD-1 Blockade-Induced Pruritus Treated with a Mu-Opioid Receptor Antagonist.
  The New England journal of medicine 2018 Kwatra SG, Ständer S, Kang H
• Clinical Benefit to an Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor in a Patient with Metastatic Integrase Interactor 1-Deficient Carcinoma.
  The oncologist 2018 Karantanos T, Rooper L, Kang Y, Lin CT, Wenga P, Sagorsky S, Lauring J, Kang H
• Androgen deprivation therapy is associated with decreased second primary lung cancer risk in the United States veterans with prostate cancer.
  Epidemiology and health 2018 Jung K, Park JC, Kang H, Brandes JC
• Efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: pooled analyses after long-term follow-up in KEYNOTE-012.
  British journal of cancer 2018 Mehra R, Seiwert TY, Gupta S, Weiss J, Gluck I, Eder JP, Burtness B, Tahara M, Keam B, Kang H, Muro K, Geva R, Chung HC, Lin CC, Aurora-Garg D, Ray A, Pathiraja K, Cheng J, Chow LQM, Haddad R
• Detection of AR-V7 transcript with RNA in situ hybridization in human salivary duct cancer.
  Oral oncology 2018 Kang H, Antonarakis ES, Luo J, Zheng Q, Rooper L, De Marzo AM, Westra WH, Lotan TL
• A robust response to combination immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in HPV-related small cell cancer: a case report.
  Journal for immunotherapy of cancer 2018 Ho WJ, Rooper L, Sagorsky S, Kang H
• Short- and long-term outcomes of oropharyngeal cancer care in the elderly.
  The Laryngoscope 2018 Motz K, Herbert RJ, Fakhry C, Quon H, Kang H, Kiess AP, Eisele DW, Koch WM, Frick KD, Gourin CG
• Quality indicators of oropharyngeal cancer care in the elderly.
  The Laryngoscope 2017 Gourin CG, Herbert RJ, Fakhry C, Quon H, Kang H, Kiess AP, Koch WM, Eisele DW, Frick KD
• Treatment, survival, and costs of oropharyngeal cancer care in the elderly.
  The Laryngoscope 2017 Gourin CG, Fakhry C, Quon H, Kang H, Kiess AP, Herbert RJ, Eisele DW, Frick KD
• Salivary duct carcinoma: An aggressive salivary gland malignancy with opportunities for targeted therapy.
  Oral oncology 2017 Schmitt NC, Kang H, Sharma A
• High-resolution microbiome profiling uncovers Fusobacterium nucleatum, Lactobacillus gasseri/johnsonii, and Lactobacillus vaginalis associated to oral and oropharyngeal cancer in saliva from HPV positive and HPV negative patients treated with surgery and chemo-radiation.
  Oncotarget 2017 Guerrero-Preston R, White JR, Godoy-Vitorino F, Rodríguez-Hilario A, Navarro K, González H, Michailidi C, Jedlicka A, Canapp S, Bondy J, Dziedzic A, Mora-Lagos B, Rivera-Alvarez G, Ili-Gangas C, Brebi…
• The role of human papillomavirus on the prognosis and treatment of oropharyngeal carcinoma.
  Cancer metastasis reviews 2017 Fung N, Faraji F, Kang H, Fakhry C
• Quality indicators of laryngeal cancer care in commercially insured patients.
  The Laryngoscope 2017 Britt CJ, Chang HY, Quon H, Kang H, Kiess AP, Eisele DW, Frick KD, Gourin CG
• Treatment, short-term outcomes, and costs associated with larynx cancer care in commercially insured patients.
  The Laryngoscope 2017 Day AT, Chang HY, Quon H, Kang H, Kiess AP, Eisele DW, Frick KD, Gourin CG
• Personalized Medicine in the Oncology Clinic: Implementation and Outcomes of the Johns Hopkins Molecular Tumor Board.
  JCO precision oncology 2017 Dalton WB, Forde PM, Kang H, Connolly RM, Stearns V, Gocke CD, Eshleman JR, Axilbund J, Petry D, Geoghegan C, Wolff AC, Loeb DM, Pratilas CA, Meyer CF, Christenson ES, Slater SA, Ensminger J, Parsons …
• SMAD4 Loss Is Associated with Cetuximab Resistance and Induction of MAPK/JNK Activation in Head and Neck Cancer Cells.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2017 Ozawa H, Ranaweera RS, Izumchenko E, Makarev E, Zhavoronkov A, Fertig EJ, Howard JD, Markovic A, Bedi A, Ravi R, Perez J, Le QT, Kong CS, Jordan RC, Wang H, Kang H, Quon H, Sidransky D, Chung CH
• Pembrolizumab for Platinum- and Cetuximab-Refractory Head and Neck Cancer: Results From a Single-Arm, Phase II Study.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2017 Bauml J, Seiwert TY, Pfister DG, Worden F, Liu SV, Gilbert J, Saba NF, Weiss J, Wirth L, Sukari A, Kang H, Gibson MK, Massarelli E, Powell S, Meister A, Shu X, Cheng JD, Haddad R
• Differences in the Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancers by Sex, Race, Anatomic Tumor Site, and HPV Detection Method.
  JAMA oncology 2017 D'Souza G, Westra WH, Wang SJ, van Zante A, Wentz A, Kluz N, Rettig E, Ryan WR, Ha PK, Kang H, Bishop J, Quon H, Kiess AP, Richmon JD, Eisele DW, Fakhry C
• Evaluation of proposed staging systems for human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
  Cancer 2017 Malm IJ, Fan CJ, Yin LX, Li DX, Koch WM, Gourin CG, Pitman KT, Richmon JD, Westra WH, Kang H, Quon H, Eisele DW, Fakhry C
• Evolution of Neoantigen Landscape during Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
  Cancer discovery 2016 Anagnostou V, Smith KN, Forde PM, Niknafs N, Bhattacharya R, White J, Zhang T, Adleff V, Phallen J, Wali N, Hruban C, Guthrie VB, Rodgers K, Naidoo J, Kang H, Sharfman W, Georgiades C, Verde F, Illei …
• Antitumor Activity of Pembrolizumab in Biomarker-Unselected Patients With Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Results From the Phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 Expansion Cohort.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2016 Chow LQM, Haddad R, Gupta S, Mahipal A, Mehra R, Tahara M, Berger R, Eder JP, Burtness B, Lee SH, Keam B, Kang H, Muro K, Weiss J, Geva R, Lin CC, Chung HC, Meister A, Dolled-Filhart M, Pathiraja K, …
• Whole-Exome Sequencing of Salivary Gland Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2016 Kang H, Tan M, Bishop JA, Jones S, Sausen M, Ha PK, Agrawal N
• FDG PET/CT in Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Primary Surgical Resection With or Without Chemoradiation Therapy.
  AJR. American journal of roentgenology 2016 Taghipour M, Sheikhbahaei S, Wray R, Agrawal N, Richmon J, Kang H, Subramaniam RM
• A phase I study afatinib/carboplatin/paclitaxel induction chemotherapy followed by standard chemoradiation in HPV-negative or high-risk HPV-positive locally advanced stage III/IVa/IVb head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
  Oral oncology 2015 Chung CH, Rudek MA, Kang H, Marur S, John P, Tsottles N, Bonerigo S, Veasey A, Kiess A, Quon H, Cmelak A, Murphy BA, Gilbert J
• Intratherapy or Posttherapy FDG PET or FDG PET/CT for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prognostic Studies.
  AJR. American journal of roentgenology 2015 Sheikhbahaei S, Ahn SJ, Moriarty E, Kang H, Fakhry C, Subramaniam RM
• Detection of somatic mutations and HPV in the saliva and plasma of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
  Science translational medicine 2015 Wang Y, Springer S, Mulvey CL, Silliman N, Schaefer J, Sausen M, James N, Rettig EM, Guo T, Pickering CR, Bishop JA, Chung CH, Califano JA, Eisele DW, Fakhry C, Gourin CG, Ha PK, Kang H, Kiess A, Koch…
• FDG PET/CT for Management and Assessing Outcomes of Squamous Cell Cancer of the Oral Cavity.
  AJR. American journal of roentgenology 2015 Pasha MA, Marcus C, Fakhry C, Kang H, Kiess AP, Subramaniam RM
• Genomic alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma determined by cancer gene-targeted sequencing.
  Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology 2015 Chung CH, Guthrie VB, Masica DL, Tokheim C, Kang H, Richmon J, Agrawal N, Fakhry C, Quon H, Subramaniam RM, Zuo Z, Seiwert T, Chalmers ZR, Frampton GM, Ali SM, Yelensky R, Stephens PJ, Miller VA, …
• Emerging biomarkers in head and neck cancer in the era of genomics.
  Nature reviews. Clinical oncology 2014 Kang H, Kiess A, Chung CH
• FDG PET/CT in the management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
  AJR. American journal of roentgenology 2014 Mohandas A, Marcus C, Kang H, Truong MT, Subramaniam RM
• A 3'-UTR KRAS-variant is associated with cisplatin resistance in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
  Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology 2014 Chung CH, Lee JW, Slebos RJ, Howard JD, Perez J, Kang H, Fertig EJ, Considine M, Gilbert J, Murphy BA, Nallur S, Paranjape T, Jordan RC, Garcia J, Burtness B, Forastiere AA, Weidhaas JB
• Head and neck PET/CT: therapy response interpretation criteria (Hopkins Criteria)-interreader reliability, accuracy, and survival outcomes.
  Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine 2014 Marcus C, Ciarallo A, Tahari AK, Mena E, Koch W, Wahl RL, Kiess AP, Kang H, Subramaniam RM
• Long-term use of valproic acid in US veterans is associated with a reduced risk of smoking-related cases of head and neck cancer.
  Cancer 2014 Kang H, Gillespie TW, Goodman M, Brodie SA, Brandes M, Ribeiro M, Ramalingam SS, Shin DM, Khuri FR, Brandes JC
• Class I HDACs are mediators of smoke carcinogen-induced stabilization of DNMT1 and serve as promising targets for chemoprevention of lung cancer.
  Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) 2014 Brodie SA, Li G, El-Kommos A, Kang H, Ramalingam SS, Behera M, Gandhi K, Kowalski J, Sica GL, Khuri FR, Vertino PM, Brandes JC
• Efficacy and safety of dual calcium channel blockade for the treatment of hypertension: a meta-analysis.
  American journal of hypertension 2012 Alviar CL, Devarapally S, Nadkarni GN, Romero J, Benjo AM, Javed F, Doherty B, Kang H, Bangalore S, Messerli FH
• Differential impacts of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in epithelial IGF-induced lung cancer development.
  Endocrinology 2011 Kim WY, Kim MJ, Moon H, Yuan P, Kim JS, Woo JK, Zhang G, Suh YA, Feng L, Behrens C, Van Pelt CS, Kang H, Lee JJ, Hong WK, Wistuba II, Lee HY
• Chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic gastric cancer: is there a global standard?
  Current treatment options in oncology 2011 Kang H, Kauh JS
• Green tea consumption and stomach cancer risk: a meta-analysis.
  Epidemiology and health 2010 Kang H, Rha SY, Oh KW, Nam CM
• [The determinants of adolescent smoking by gender and type of school in Korea].
  Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi 2006 Kim H, Kim EK, Choi ES, Kim YJ, Lee HJ, Kim JJ, Jang HS, Shim KS, Jeon SN, Kang YH, Kang H, Oh J, Cho KS, Kwon S
• EGF receptor and p21WAF1 expression are reciprocally altered as ME-180 cervical carcinoma cells progress from high to low cisplatin sensitivity.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2000 Donato NJ, Perez M, Kang H, Siddik ZH, Ling YH, Perez-Soler R