Dr. Nai-Kong V. Cheung

Dr. Nai-Kong V. Cheung, MD, PhD, is a pediatric oncologist at MSK Kids who specializes in immunologic approaches to diagnosing and treating pediatric cancers, with a primary focus on neuroblastoma, a tumor arising from primitive cells of the sympathetic nervous system that predominantly affects young children. Together with his colleagues, Dr. Cheung has developed multimodal treatment strategies combining surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, isotretinoin, and targeted immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies. These combined approaches have dramatically transformed outcomes for patients with metastatic neuroblastoma: today, more than 50 percent of patients treated at MSK Kids survive the disease, compared with fewer than 5 percent in the 1980s. Immunotherapy has since become the standard of care for metastatic neuroblastoma, and localized neuroblastoma is now considered a curable cancer, with many patients at this stage achieving cure through surgery alone.

Dr. Cheung and his team are actively engaged in early-phase clinical trials investigating biologic agents, vaccines, natural killer cells, and combinations of these novel approaches with conventional treatments, with the hope that advances in neuroblastoma therapy will serve as a model for treating other metastatic solid tumors in children and adolescents. In the laboratory, his group evaluates markers of minimal residual disease to predict the risk of early metastasis and recurrence, identifies novel treatment targets, and engineers next-generation antibodies that are more potent and human-like. These engineered antibodies are being armed with either T lymphocytes or radioactive substances for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications, with potential utility extending beyond neuroblastoma to other solid tumors in adolescents and adults. His team is also investigating drugs to overcome chemotherapy resistance and studying the genetic and biochemical features of neuroblastoma to better predict tumor behavior and guide treatment selection.

The team at MSK Kids treats more patients with neuroblastoma than any other institution in the world, drawing on rigorous research findings to achieve superior outcomes. Dr. Cheung's central mission remains the translation of innovative therapies from the laboratory to the clinic, guided by the belief that science-driven care and compassionate multidisciplinary collaboration are essential to eliminating this devastating disease. Families who seek care at MSK Kids benefit from the collective expertise and dedication of specialists across disciplines who share the goal of advancing treatment and improving the lives of children and adolescents with neuroblastoma.