Linda L. Wong, MD

Linda L. Wong, MD

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Associate Member, Cancer Biology, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
Director, Liver Transplant Program, The Queen's Medical Center

Academic Appointment(s):
Professor, Translational and Clinical Research, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
Professor, Associate Chairman, Department of Surgery, John A. Burns School of Medicine

Degree(s):
MD, University of California, Irvine
General Surgery Residency, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Transplant Fellowship, California-Pacific Medical Center

Research Focus

Dr. Wong is a liver transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon who founded and heads the only liver transplant program in the state of Hawaiʻi. She is also currently building the state's only multidisciplinary hepatobiliary program, Dr. Wong has been participating in research activities related to liver disease and cancer for the past 28 years. She believes a better understanding of these diseases will allow for earlier detection, better treatment and ultimately prevention of liver cancer.

Viral hepatitis patients are those most prone to developing hepatobiliary cancers and Hawaiʻi has one of the highest incidences of hepatobiliary cancer in the US. Through the clinical partnership with her surgery center, researchers have the unique opportunity to study viral carcinogenesis and potentially prevent cancer in the group with the highest risks.

Hawaiʻi's high incidence of viral hepatitis is primarily due to immigrants from Asian and Pacific Island nations in which hepatitis B is endemic. There are also great racial disparities among Pacific Islanders in terms of treatment of both viral hepatitis and liver cancer. Dr. Wong is dedicated to solving hepatobiliary disease collaboratively, because she knows she and her colleagues can have the greatest impact on care for their patients by working together.

Selected Publications

Wong LL, Bozhilov K, Hernandez BY, Kwee SA, Chan O, Ellis L, LeMarchand L. (2019). Underlying liver disease and advanced stage liver cancer are associated with elevated Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio. Clin Mol Hepatol; Sep;25(3):305-316. PMID 31001964.

Song MA, Tiirikainen M, Kwee S, Okimoto G, Yu H, Wong LL. (2013). Elucidating the DNA Methylation Landscape in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. PLoS One; 8(2):e55761. doi:10.1371. PMID:23437062.

Kwee SA, Chan O, Hernandez B, Wong LL. (2012). Choline Kinase Alpha and Hexokinase-2 Protein Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Association with Survival. PLoS One; 7:e46591. PMID:23071593.

Wong LL, Lopez K, Kuwada S. (2013). Needle track seeding of hepatocellular cancer can be devastating after liver transplantation. Clin Transplant; 27(4): 400-6. doi: 10.1111/ctr.12160. PMID: 23837571.

Hernandez BY, Zhu XM, Chan O, Kwee S, Okimoto G, Tsai N, Albright C, McGlynn K, Alterkruse S, Yu H, Wong LL. (2013).Viral hepatitis markers in liver tissue in relation to serostatus in hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Epidem Biomar; PMID: 23983238.

Publication list via PubMed