Le Xuan (Truong) Nguyen, Ph.D.
- Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
- Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Le Xuan (Truong) Nguyen, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in City of Hope® Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Hematologic Malignancies Translational Science. His research seeks to better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate the growth, survival and treatment resistance of leukemia stem cells. He is dedicated to translating his laboratory discoveries into novel and effective therapies that target leukemia-initiating cells and improve outcomes for cancer patients.
Dr. Nguyen received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea, before completing postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford Cancer Institute and City of Hope. His clinical research includes active collaboration with colleagues at City of Hope, including its Cancer and Cell Biology Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), where he also serves as an adjunct faculty member.
An established expert in leukemia research and cellular biology, Dr. Nguyen is involved in a wide range of research grants and programs. These include a role as principal investigator (PI) of a multiple-PI research program, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, that is studying the possibility of targeting microRNAs to eradicate leukemia stem cells, in addition to serving as co-investigator on multiple other studies investigating potential new therapies for hematologic malignancies.
Dr. Nguyen’s scholarship and research has been published in dozens of high-impact journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Communication, Cancer, PNAS, Blood, Journal of Hematology and Oncology, Leukemia, and Cancers, serving as first or senior author for 24 papers, including two reviews. He has presented 20 abstracts at national and international meetings, and in the last three years, he has published more than 10 manuscripts in high-impact journals (Nature Communication, Cancer, JHO, Leukemia, PNAS and Cancers), most of which he serves as co-first or co-corresponding author.
Education & Experience
Degrees
- 2004, Bachelor of Science, Vietnam National University, Biotechnology
- 2010, Ph.D., Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea, Molecular Biology
Fellowship
- 2015, Fellowship, Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California
- 2017, Fellowship, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, California
Professional Experience
- 2023-present, Assistant Professor, Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, California
- 2022-present, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cancer & Cell Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Phoenix, Arizona
- 2020-2023, Assistant Research Professor, Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research, Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, California
- 2017-2020, Staff Scientist, Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research, Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, California
Publications
- Yinghui Zhu, Mariam Murtadha, Miaomiao Liu, Enrico Caserta, Ottavio Napolitano, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Huafeng Wang, Milad Moloudizargari, Lokesh Nigam, Theophilus Tandoh, Xuemei Wang, Alex Pozhitkov, Rui Su, Xiangjie Lin, Marc Denisse Estepa, Raju Pillai, Joo Song, James F Sanchez, Yu-Hsuan Fu, Lianjun Zhang, Man Li, Bin Zhang, Ling Li, Ya-Huei Kuo, Steven Rosen, Guido Marcucci, John C Williams, and Flavia Pichiorri. Identification of CD84 as a potent survival factor in acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Invest 2025 Apr 8:e176818
- Fang Chen, Dandan Zhao, Yongfang Xu, Yi Zhang, Min-Hsuan Chen, Pathak Khyatiben, Nate Hansen, Brooke Lovell, Yong Liang, Kristin Estrella, Lucy Ghoda, Russel Rockne, Xiwei Hu, Haris Ali, Michael Caligiuri, Stephen Forman, Jeff Trent, Ya-Huei Kuo, Ling Li, Piotr Swiderski, Jiangying Zhang, Marcin Kortylewski, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Patrick Pirrotte, Mark Boldin, Guido Marcucci, and Bin Zhang. miR-142 deficit in T cells during blast crisis promotes chronic myeloid leukemia immune escape. Nature Communications 2025 Feb 1;16(1):1253
- HyunJun Kang, Lianjun Zhang, Mohan R Kaadige, Melissa Valerio, Dinh Hoa Hoang, Trason Thode, Alexis Weston, Khyatiben V. Pathak, Lokesh Nigam, Nathanial P Hansen, Brooke Lovell, Yuriy Shostak, Wei Li, Lucy Y. Ghoda, Zhuo Li, Bin Zhang, Jianjun Chen, Patrick Pirrotte, Ya-Huei Kuo, Sunil Sharma, Guido Marcucci, and Le Xuan Truong Nguyen. Targeting RNA Modification and Mitochondrial Metabolism Crosstalk in Leukemic Stem Cells with CDK7 Inhibitor TGN-1062. Blood advances 2025 Feb 5. (Corresponding author)
- HyunJun Kang, Dinh Hoa Hoang, Melissa Valerio, Khyatiben Pathak, William Graff, Alexis Levee, Jun Wu, Alana L Welm, Mark A LaBarge, Patrick Pirrotte, Bin Zhang, Joanne Mortimer, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, and Guido Marcucci. Pharmacological activity of OST-01, a Natural Product from Baccharis Coridifolia, on Breast Cancer Cells, J Hematol Oncol. 2025 Feb 7;18(1):16 (Corresponding author)
- HyunJun Kang, Melissa Valerio, Jia Feng, Long Gu, Dinh Hoa Hoang, Amanda Blackmon, Shawn Sharkas, Khyatiben Pathak, Jennifer Jossart, Zhuo Li, Hongyu Zhang, Bin Zhang, Patrick Pirrotte, J. Jefferson P. Perry, Robert J Hickey, Linda Malkas, Guido Marcucci1, and Le Xuan Truong Nguyen. AOH1996 Targets Mitochondrial Dynamics and Metabolism in Leukemic Stem Cells via Mitochondrial PCNA Inhibition. Exp. Hematol Oncol. 2024 Dec 28;13(1):123. (Corresponding author)
- Wenyuan Wei, Melissa Valerio, Ning Ma, Hyunjun Kang, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Guido Marcucci, and Nagarajan Vaidehi. Disordered C-terminus plays a critical role in the activity of the small GTPase Ran. Biochemistry 2025 Feb 25. (Corresponding author)
- Vinod Pullarkat, Lisa S Chen, Joycelynne Palmer, Jianying Zhang, Timothy W Synold, Ralf Buettner, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Guido Marcucci, Ni-Chun Tsai, Yan Wang, James O'Hearn, Varsha Gandhi, Steven T Rosen. A phase 1 trial of 8-chloro-adenosine in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia: An evaluation of safety and pharmacokinetics. Cancer. 2024 Mar 1;130(5):727-739
- Jiamin Guo, Ralf Buettner, Li Du, Zhenlong Li, Wei Liu, Rui Su, Zhenhua Chen, Yuan Che, Yi Zhang, Rui Ma, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Roger E Moore, Pathak Khyatiben, Min-Hsuan Chen, Pirrotte Patrick, Xiwei Wu, Guido Marcucci, Lili Wang, David Horne, Jianjun Chen, Yanzhong Yang, Steven T Rosen. 8-Cl-Ado and 8-NH2-Ado synergize with venetoclax to target the methionine-MAT2A-SAM axis in acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia 2024 Jun;38(6):1236-1245
- Yi Zhang, Miso Park, Lucy Y. Ghoda, Dandan Zhao, Melissa Valerio, Xubo Gong, Fang Chen, Yongfang Xu, Katrina Estrella, Kaito Harada, Shawn Sharkas, Hyunjun Kang, Dinh Hoa Hoang, Zhenhua Chen, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Flavia Pichiorri, Jianjun Chen, Stephen J. Forman, Idoroenyi Amanam, Bin Zhang, Jie Jin, John C. Williams and Guido Marcucci. IL1RAP-specific T-cell Engager Depletes Acute Myeloid Leukemia Leukemic Stem Cells. J Hematol Oncol. 2024
- Shanshan Suo, Dandan Zhao, Fenglin Li, Yi Zhang, Sonia Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Lucy Ghoda, Nadia Carlesso, Guido Marcucci, Bin Zhang, and Jie Jin. Homoharringtonine Inhibits the NOTCH/MYC Pathway and Exhibits Anti-Tumor Effects in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Blood 2024
- Shanshan Suo, Shu Sun, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Jiejing Qian, Dandan Zhao, Wenjuan Yu, Yinjun Lou, Hong-Hu Zhu, Hongyan Tong, Ming Yang, Xin Huang, Shuqi Zhao, Jun-Jing Qiao, Chen Liang, Fenglin Li, Huafeng Wang, Yi Zhang, Xiang Zhang, Dinh Hoa Hoang, Fang Chen, Jie Sun, Lucy Ghoda, Ling Li, Bin Zhang, Guido Marcucci, and Jie Jin. Homoharringtonine Synergizes with Venetoclax in Early T-cell Progenitor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Bench and Bed. Med 2024. (First author)