Combating cancer one step at a time
Authors: Nadarajah R.N Sugitha 
Published: October 2016

<p>"I graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Ain Shams University,” says the oncologist, who completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 2005 and is now working at the same university as a lecturer in clinical oncology. Ain Shams University, originally known as ‘Ibrahim Pasha’s University’ prides itself in being the third higher education institution to be founded in Egypt. It has produced famous alumni that include current acting Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail Mohamed and former Egyptian Prime Minister Abd El Aziz Muhammad Hegazi, as well as the noted American modern philosopher Charles Butterworth.</p><p> </p><p>In 2007, Dr. Abdel-Rahman furthered his studies by pursuing a Master’s in Oncology at the same university. “I finished my training as a clinical oncologist in 2010. I was soon appointed as an assistant lecturer, before becoming a full lecturer in clinical oncology at the same institute,” he adds. Upon finishing his early stage training, he went on to pursue his PhD in the same area at his alma mater. While doing his doctorate studies, Dr. Abdel-Rah- man attended and passed the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians UK (MRCPUK) written examination. The diploma is a knowledge-based assessment for core medical training, and a successful completion of the entire three-part examination is a requirement for physicians wishing to undergo training in a medical-related specialty in the UK. Additionally, Dr. Abdel-Rahman also completed a Master’s of Advanced Oncology at Ulm University, Germany.</p><p> </p><p>“My interest and career goals are to improve my knowledge and understanding of clinical and translational cancer research,” says the oncologist. As every physician has his or her own reasons for choosing the field which they specialize in, AMOR’s EIC explains that he chose to hone his skills in oncology owing to the significant impact of the disease upon the general population. “Cancer is a global health problem that has widespread consequences, not only in a medical sense but also socially and economically,” says Dr. Abdel-Rahman. “We need to put in every effort to combat this fatal disease,” he adds.</p><p> </p><p>Tackling the spread of cancer and the increase in the number of cases reported every year is not without its challenges, he asserts. “I see the key challenges as the unequal availability of cancer treatments worldwide, the increasing cost of cancer treatment, and the increased median age of the population in many parts of the world, which carries with it a consequent increase in the risk of certain cancers,” he says. “We need to reassess the current pace and orientation of cancer research because, with time, cancer research is becoming industry-oriented rather than academia-oriented — which, in my view, could be very dangerous to the future of cancer research,” adds Dr. Abdel-Rahman. “Governments need to provide more research funding to improve the outcome of cancer patients,” he explains.</p><p> </p><p>His efforts and hard work have led to him receiving a number of distinguished awards, namely the UICC International Cancer Technology Transfer (ICRETT) fellowship in 2014 at the Investigational New Drugs Unit in the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy; EACR travel fellowship in 2015 at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK; and also several travel grants to Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, and many other countries where he attended medical conferences. Dr. Abdel-Rahman is currently engaged in a project to establish a clinical/translational cancer research center at his institute, which seeks to incorporate various cancer-related disciplines in order to produce a real bench-to-bedside practice, hoping that it would “change research that may help shape the future of cancer therapy”.</p><p> </p><p>Dr. Abdel-Rahman is also an active founding member of the clinical research unit at his institute and is a representative to the prestigious European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), as well as a member of EORTC breast cancer and gastro-intestinal cancer research groups. “I am the director of the largest ever multicenter Egyptian oncology study, officially titled as ESLC-1 study ‘NCT01539018’. Addi-</p><p> </p><p>tionally, I have co-authored more than 30 publications in the last three years in the fields of breast cancer, NSCLC, GI malignancies, as well as hematology,” says the researcher, whose books on issues relevant to oncology include ‘Exploring systemic options for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma’, ‘Clinical oncology tips and tricks’, and ‘Exploring high precision radiotherapy technologies’.</p><p align="left"> </p><p>With regard to the continuous development of AMOR under his leadership, Dr. Abdel-Rahman says, “I am very happy with the progress of AMOR and I hope that it will continue along the same trajectory.” As the Editor-in- Chief of this journal, he has had his share of challenges during the setting up of the journal. “Of course, establishing a new journal is a big challenge, particularly in the context of the plethora of new oncology journals that arise every day,” he says. “Moreover, maintaining a mini- mum acceptable standard of research and publication quality is a difficult endeavor,” adds the oncologist.</p><p> </p><p>“I hope AMOR will continue as an effective platform that features important cancer-related research from all parts of the world, and the journal will continue to support high-quality research activities, particularly those from the underrepresented parts of the world,” concludes Dr. Abdel-Rahman.</p>