Lansdale High School Student Honored for Cancer Research

Lijia Xie hasn't even finished high school yet and already he's responsible for important research in the fight against cancer.

"I developed a urine test that detects liver cancer with 90 percent accuracy," said Xie.

The North Penn High School student has spent the last two summers working in a Doylestown lab with his mentor, Dr. Ying Hsiu Su. His mother's battle with breast cancer drove him to work extra hard on the cancer study.

"My mom was going through chemotherapy at the time so that made it more personal for me, I was driven to try and do something what little I could."

That little in his mind turned out to be very big. Lijia was a finalist in the Siemens competition in math, science, and technology and then he received a Davidson fellowship that includes $25,000 for college.

While his research is far from over and numerous clinical trials must be done before his test can be used on patients, Lijia is very grateful and optimistic about his data.

"I'm extremely blessed. I've been provided with a lot of opportunity to do what I can do."

There is more to Lijia than just math and science. He's also co-captain of his high school tennis team, he loves music and plays several instruments and - no surprise - he can also sing.