I was heartbroken to learn of the passing of my mentor, colleague, and friend, Waun Ki Hong. Dr. Hong was the quintessential physician scientist who specialized in all aspects of medicine, but most notably patient care, research, and education. This is a devastating loss for the entire oncology community, and especially for all of the patients he cared for and helped.
Though he has departed, his findings will continue to help those patients for years to come, including his groundbreaking innovations in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer, precision medicine, chemoprevention, and targeted therapy. Just think about how lung cancer treatment has changed in 20 years with the advent of targeted therapy, precision guided biopsies, and immunotherapy, thanks to his leadership.
This is an excerpt of an article that was published in full in The Cancer Letter.
