TYROSINE KINASES IN CANCER RECURRENCE

With
Dr Yu Yu
Program Lead, Curtin Medical Research Institute &
Senior Research Fellow, Curtin Medical School,
Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Australia | July 2025

Dr Yu Yu completed her PhD at Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney in experimental therapeutics for cancer. She then pursued postdoctoral training at the Richard W. TeLinde Gynecologic Pathology Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA with a focus on understanding the treatment for recurrent ovarian tumour.

Dr Yu Yu leads the Oncology and Gynaecology Research Program at Curtin Medical Research Institute . Dr Yu is also a senior research fellow at Curtin Medical School.

Dr Yu Yu has a strong expertise in developing molecular and cellular therapeutics for cancer. She is a former NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow and Raine/Robson Fellow.  Her studies focused on recurrent cancers, with interests in biomarker and therapeutics development.

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest gynaecologic cancers. There are ~300,000 new cases of ovarian cancer worldwide each year. Less than half of women diagnosed survive 5-years after diagnosis. Platinum-based chemotherapy is used to treat ovarian cancers and a variety of other solid cancers. The National Cancer Institute reports 20% of cancer patients worldwide (3.6 million people) receive a platinum-based drug as part of treatment. However, ~20-50% do not respond because of intrinsic resistance. Currently, there is no way to predict response prior to starting platinum chemotherapy.

Dr Yu Yu’s laboratory is working on better ways to treat cancers, particularly ovarian cancers which are resistant to conventional chemotherapy. The aims are for  better informed treatment choice and reducing unnecessary exposure to ineffective chemotherapy and its potential adverse effects.

Collaboration partners include St John of God Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital, both in Western Australia. Funding for Dr Yu Yu’s research comes from WA Department of Health’s Future Health and Innovation Research Fund, Raine Medical Research Foundation and Endometriosis Foundation of America.

Source: Supplied and adapted