Zhihong Gong

PhD

Research Interests:

Risk factors of cancer and cancer outcomes: Dietary and other lifestyle factors Genetic factors Gene-environment interactions DNA methylation and noncoding RNA (microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs) regulations Racial disparities

About Zhihong Gong

Biography:

Zhihong Gong, PhD, joined the Roswell Park research staff in 2011 as a Research Assistant Professor. In 2014, she was appointed to a faculty position as an Assistant Member and Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. Dr. Gong was named Associate Member and Associate Professor of Oncology in 2020. 

Dr. Gong received her doctoral degree in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina, her post-doctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

Positions

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Associate Professor of Oncology
  • Department of Cancer Prevention & Control

Background

Education and Training:

  • PhD - Epidemiology, University of South Carolina

Fellowship:

  • Northwest Prostate Cancer SPORE - Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA

Professional Memberships:

  • American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
  • Women in Cancer Research (WICR/AACR)
  • Molecular Epidemiology (MEG/AACR)

Research

Research Overview:

As a cancer epidemiologist, Dr. Gong investigates the role of genetic/epigenetic, nutritional, and other lifestyle factors in the etiology and outcomes of several types of cancers. Specifically, her interests are to study: Dietary and other lifestyle factors; genetic variants in various pathways; gene-environment interactions; DNA methylation, microRNA and long noncoding RNA expression patterns; with risk of cancer, cancer outcomes, and racial disparities.

Dr. Gong works on several research projects based on data and samples from several large epidemiology studies, including the Women’s Circle of Health Study and the African American Breast cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium. She was the PI of an NCI-funded five-year training grant, which examines the epigenetic role, particularly aberrant DNA methylation patterns and microRNA alterations, in relation to breast cancer tumor aggressiveness and racial disparities. This study will also evaluate how various modifiable factors, e.g., dietary and other lifestyle behaviors, play a role in this association. Findings from this study will contribute to the limited literature for a better understanding of biological and environmental factors driving racial differences in breast cancer. Dr. Gong is also developing pilot studies for an effort to identify biomarkers, particularly on microRNA expression and DNA methylation patterns, in both tumor and serum samples, for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Dr. Gong is currently leading a study newly funded by NCI, to examine the role of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) regulations in breast cancer among African American (AA) women. This research will integrate data across several -omic domains (i.e., DNA methylation and gene expression) and extensive epidemiological and outcome data (e.g., diet, obesity), which allows for a comprehensive understanding of how lncRNAs, combined with DNA methylation and lifestyle factors, regulate the underlying molecular mechanisms in breast cancer progression and prognosis. This proposed study will make significant contributions to the effort of identifying prognostic markers and molecular mechanisms involved in breast cancer progression and deaths among AA women, who experience the largest disparities in breast cancer outcomes, with a goal of reducing mortality from this disease.

Publications

Full Publications list on PubMed
  • Gong YL, Xie DW, Deng ZL, Bostick RM, Miao XJ, Zhang JH, Gong ZH. Vitamin D receptor gene Tru9I polymorphism and risk for incident sporadic colorectal adenomas. World Journal of Gastroenterology 2005; 11(31):4794-4799.
  • Gong Z, Xie D, Deng Z, Bostick RM, Muga SJ, Hurley TG, Hebert JR. The PPAR{gamma} Pro12Ala polymorphism and risk for incident sporadic colorectal adenomas. Carcinogenesis 2005; 26(3):579-585.
  • Gong Z, Neuhouser ML, Goodman PJ, Albanes D, Chi C, Hsing AW, Lippman SM, Platz EA, Pollak MN, Thompson IM, Kristal AR. Obesity, diabetes, and risk of prostate cancer: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 2006; 15(10):1977-1983.
  • Gong Z, Agalliu I, Lin DW, Stanford JL, Kristal AR. Obesity is associated with increased risks of prostate cancer metastasis and death after initial cancer diagnosis in middle-aged men. Cancer 2007; 109(6):1192-1202.
  • Kristal AR, Gong Z (review). Obesity and prostate cancer mortality. Future Oncology 2007; 3(5):557-567.
  • Gong Z, Hebert JR, Bostick RM, Deng Z, Hurley TG, Dixon DA, Nitcheva D, Xie D. Common polymorphisms in 5-lipoxygenase and 12-lipoxygenase genes and the risk of incident, sporadic colorectal adenoma. Cancer 2007; 109(5):849-857.
  • Gong Z, Agalliu I, Lin DW, Stanford JL, Kristal AR. Cigarette smoking and prostate cancer-specific mortality following diagnosis in middle-aged men. Cancer Causes & Control 2008; 19(1):25-31.
  • Gong Z, Bostick RM, Xie D, Hurley TG, Deng Z, Dixon DA, Hebert JR. Genetic polymorphisms in the cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 genes and risk of colorectal adenoma. International Journal of Colorectal Disease 2009;24(6):647-54
  • Gong Z, Kristal AR, Schenk JM, Tangen CM, Goodman PJ, Thompson IM. Alcohol consumption, finasteride and prostate cancer risk: Results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Cancer 2009;115(16):3661-9
  • Gong Z, Holly EA, Bracci PM. Folate, vitamins B6, B12, and methionine and risk of pancreatic cancer in a large population-based case-control study. Cancer Causes & Control, 2009; 20(8):1317-1325
  • Gong Z, Holly EA, Wang F, Chan JM, Bracci PM. Intake of fatty acids and antioxidants and pancreatic cancer in a large population-based case-control study in the San Francisco Bay Area. International Journal of Cancer. 2010 127(8):1893-904.
  • Zablotska LB, Gong Z, Wang F, Holly EA, Bracci PM. Vitamin D, calcium, retinol intake and pancreatic cancer in a large population-based case-control study in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cancer Causes & Control, 2011;22(1):91-100
  • Hatch M, Polyanskaya O, McConnell R, Gong Z, Drozdovitch V, Rozhko A, Prokopovich A, Petrenko S, Brenner A, Zablotska L. Iodine nutrition in Belarus: Experience of the Belarus-American Cohort study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases following the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Thyroid, 2011; 21(4):429-37.
  • Gong Z, Holly EA, Bracci PM. Survival of population-based pancreatic cancer patients: San Francisco Bay Area, 1995-1999. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2011; 174(12):1373-81.
  • Mikhak B, Bracci PB, Gong Z. Vitamins A, D, and calcium intake and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a population-based case-control study in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nutrition and Cancer 2012; 64 (5):674-84
  • Thomson C, Hingle M, Wertheim B, Wang L, Neuhouser M, Gong Z, Garcia L, Stefanick M, Manson JE. Alcohol Consumption, Body Weight, and Weight Change in Postmenopausal Women. International Journal of Obesity, 2012; 36 (9): 1158-64.
  • Gong Z, Holly EA, Bracci PM. Obesity and survival in population-based patients with pancreatic cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cancer Causes Control 2012; 23(12):1929-37.
  • Tang X, Wu X, Dubois AM, Sui G, Wu B, Lai G, Gong Z, Gao H, Liu S, Zhong Z, Lin Z, Olson J, Ren X. Toxicity of Trimethyltin and Dimethyltin in Rats and Mice. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2013; 90 (5): 626-33
  • Chan JM, Gong Z, Holly EA, Bracci PM. Dietary patterns and pancreatic cancer risk: Results from a large population-based case-control study. Nutrition and Cancer 2013; 65(1):157-64
  • Hong CC, Yao S, McCann SE, Dolnick RY, Wallace PK, Gong Z, Quan L, Lee K, Repasky EA, Evans S, Edge SB, Ambrosone CB. Pretreatment Levels of Circulating Th1 and Th2 Cytokines, and their Ratios, are Associated with ER-Negative and Triple Negative Breast Cancers. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013; 139 (2):477-88
  • Tang X, Li N, Kang L, Dubois AM, Gong Z, Wu B, Lai G, Yang A, Ruan X, Gao H, Zhu G, Ge Y, Zhang J, Lin Z, Olson JR, Ren X. Chronic low level trimethyltin exposure and the risk of developing nephrolithiasis. Occup Environ Med. 2013; 70 (8): 561-7
  • Gong Z, Quan L, Yao S, Bandera E, Hwang H, Roberts M, Zirpoli G, Ciupak G, Davis W, Sucheston L, Pawlish K, Bovbjerg D, Jandorf L, Ambrosone C, Hong C. Innate immunity pathway and Breast Cancer Risk in African American and European-American Women in the Women’s Circle of Health Study (WCHS). PLOS One, 2013; 8(8):e72619.
  • Bandera EV, Chandran U, Zirpoli G, Gong Z, McCann SE, Hong CC, Ciupak G, Pawlish K, Ambrosone CB. Body fatness and breast cancer risk in women of African ancestry. BMC Cancer 2013; 13:475
  • Chandran U, Zirpoli G, McCann SE, Gong Z, Ciupak G, Pawlish K, Lin Y, Demissie K, Ambrosone CB, Bandera EV. Does alcohol increase breast cancer risk in African-American women? Findings from a case-control study. British Journal of Cancer. 2013; 109 (7):1945-53
  • Chandran U, Zirpoli G, Ciupak G, McCann SE, Gong Z, Pawlish K, Lin Y, Demissie K, Ambrosone CB, Bandera EV. Racial disparities in red meat and poultry intake and breast cancer risk. Cancer Causes Control. 2013; 24 (12): 2217-29
  • Ge Y, Gong Z, Olson JR, Xu P, Buck MJ, Ren X. Inhibition of monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III))-induced cell malignant transformation through restoring dysregulated histone acetylation. Toxicology. 2013; 312:30-5
  • Yao S, Hong CC, McCann SE, Zirpoli G, Quan L, Gong Z, Johnson CS, Trump DL, Ambrosone CB. Combined effects of circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin d and Th1 and th2 cytokines on breast cancer estrogen receptor status. Cancers (Basel). 2014; 6(1):211-25.
  • Gong Z, Ambrosone CB, McCann SE, Zirpoli G, Chandran U, Hong CC, Bovbjerg D, Jandorf L, Ciupak G, Pawlish K, Hwang H, Khoury T, Wiam B, Bandera EV. Associations of dietary folate, vitamin B6, B12 and methionine intake with risk of breast cancer among African American and European American women. International Journal of Cancer, 2014; 134 (6):1422-35
  • Quan L, Gong Z, Yao S, Bandera E, Hwang H, Roberts M, Zirpoli G, Ciupak G, Davis W, Sucheston L, Pawlish K, Bovbjerg D, Jandorf L, Ambrosone C, Hong C. Cytokine and cytokine receptors of adaptive immune response are differentially associated with breast cancer risk in women of African ancestry and European ancestry. International Journal of Cancer, 2014; 134 (6):1408-21
  • Lydia Zablotska, Eldar Nadyrov, Alexander Rozhko, Zhihong Gong, Olga Polyanskaya, Robert McConnell, Patrick O’Kane, Alina Brenner, Mark P.Little, Evgenia Ostroumova, Andre Bouville, Vladimir Drozdovitch, Yuri Demidchik, Alexander Nerovnya, Vassilina Yauseyenka, Irina Savasteeva, Sergey Nikonovich, Kiyohiko Mabuchi, Maureen Hatch. Analysis of thyroid malignant pathological findings identified during three rounds of screening (1997-2008) of a Belarusian cohort of children and adolescents exposed to radioiodines after the Chernobyl accident. Cancer 2014;000:000-000. E-publish
  • Urmila Chandran, Susan E. McCann, Gary Zirpoli, Zhihong Gong, Yong Lin, Chi-Chen Hong, Gregory Ciupak, Karen Pawlish, Christine B. Ambrosone, Elisa V. Bandera. Intake of energy-dense foods, fast foods, sugary drinks, and breast cancer risk in African American and European American women. 2014 September 29; Nutrition and Cancer, E-publish