Yao Zhu, MD, PhD

In conversation with Peter K.F. Chiu, MD, PhD, FRCSEd, Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor and Associate Consultant in the Division of Urology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yao Zhu, MD, PhD, attending urologist at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Associate Professor in Oncology at Shanghai Medical College, discusses the increasing number of deaths from prostate cancer in East Asia, emphasizing the need to develop Asian-specific genetic risk models. Dr. Zhu notes that while data on non-Western populations has been relatively limited to this point, there appear to be numerous differences in prostate cancer-related mutations between East Asian men and Western men, including lower rates of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion and PTEN deletion, and increased prevalence of FOXA1, SPOP, CHD1, and BRCA2. He also observes that there are pharmacogenomic implications to differences in testosterone metabolism-related genes between East Asian and Western men.