Bulletin No. 2, 2020

Research 48   Chinese University Bulletin No. 2, 2010 New Hope for Glaucoma Patients A research team led by Prof. Lam Shun-chiu Dennis, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has discovered a new usage of 4-Phenylbutyrate (PB) as a potential glaucoma drug and has applied for a US patent. In steroid-induced glaucoma, there is an increase in trabecular meshwork (TM) cell deaths and hence extracellular deposits and debris, leading to blockage of the drainage channels, pressure rise and glaucoma. The team discovered that topical PB is able to prevent cell deaths in the TM, and thus prevent and treat steroid-induced glaucoma. Score to Predict Liver Cancer Risk A 10-year joint study by the Depar tment of Clinical Oncology and the Department of Medicine and T he r ap eu t i c s ha s developed and validated a simple score to predict the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic Hepatitis B. The research team evaluated the risk factor of liver cancer in 1,005 patients and found age, albumin, bilirubin, Hepatitis B viral load and cirrhosis status to be the most important factors associated with future liver cancer development. The accuracy of the prediction score was subsequently validated in another cohort of 424 patients over 10 years of observation. This new score can be used to identify and prioritize high-risk patients for regular liver cancer surveillance and anti-viral treatment. (From left) Prof. Chan Lam Stephen and Prof. Mok Shu-kam Tony of the Department of Clinical Oncology, and Prof. Chan Lik-yuen Henry and Prof. Wong Wai-sun Vincent of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics