Ghassan Abou-Alfa1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA; 2AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: amj@amegroups.com
This interview can be cited as: Abou-Alfa GK, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of AMJ: Prof. Ghassan Abou-Alfa. AME Med J. 2024. Available from: https://amj.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-amj-prof-ghassan-abou-alfa.
Expert introduction
Prof. Ghassan Abou-Alfa (Figure 1) joined the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York back in 2001.
Prof. Abou-Alfa specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. Prof. Abou-Alfa received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine. His research is dedicated to finding novel therapies and improving the effectiveness of current therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, and fibrolamellar carcinoma, while continuing to understand the basic mechanisms of the diseases and their therapy. Prof. Abou-Alfa has many publications in the field. He led many occasions and international teams of investigators. He served as the chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Task Force for Hepatobiliary Cancers, and now serves as the vice-chair of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) Solid Tumor Working Group (STWG) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Prof. Abou-Alfa also co-chairs the hepatobiliary cancers subgroup of the Alliance cooperative group and is a cadre member of both gastrointestinal cancers. Prof. Abou-Alfa, who has lectured worldwide on the subject of gastrointestinal malignancies, is also a strong advocate for raising awareness and support for improving the outcome of patients with this disease and enhancing oncologic education while continuing to care for patients he welcomes in his clinic from around the globe.
Figure 1 Prof. Ghassan Abou-Alfa
Interview
AMJ: What initially inspired you to pursue a career in gastrointestinal oncology?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: I did my postdoctoral training at Yale University before I moved to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I was intrigued by the GI system because of its well-structured, highly organized model. This was an appeal to me. The liver itself is an interesting, serendipitous story. It was offered to me when I joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the field was totally unoccupied. There were no systemic therapies for the liver at that time. In retrospect, taking on a challenge from the start was surely gratifying, both personally and institutionally. Add to the world-known expertise of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s surgeons, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center became the leader of the hepatobiliary medical oncology efforts worldwide.
AMJ: You joined the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2001. How has your work there evolved over the years, particularly in the context of advancing therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, and fibrolamellar carcinoma?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: I remain very grateful to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and all dear colleagues for a successful endeavor we are all proud of. I am thankful to the institution for providing me with the opportunity. The process evolved steadily and efficiently, and it walked parallel with the disease itself. The continued support of the institution’s leadership and all our colleagues has been very helpful in permitting me to conduct the research that I led. Those efforts have proudly contributed to bringing in seven drugs and combinations for approval by drug agencies, like the FDA in the U.S., China, and many other countries worldwide.
It is very important to note and reemphasize though, that the opportunity that Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center provided me was because of the excellent care that the institution provides for patients we care for. I am very grateful to all the patients and their loved ones for entrusting me to take care of them. What is fascinating is that patients come to us from all over the world, and it is always a delight to help people, take care of people, and more importantly, learn about their diseases so we can try to help others.
AMJ: Your research focuses on novel therapies for HCC, cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, and fibrolamellar carcinoma. What are some of the most promising therapeutic approaches currently being investigated, and how do they differ from existing treatments?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: Our focus is primarily on liver cancer, which, unfortunately, is a very common cancer in China, and is becoming common all over the world. We understand that chemotherapy, in general, does not work that well in that disease. As such, our first efforts were to use targeted therapy or biologic therapy, what we call tyrosine-kinase inhibitors. We at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were the first to test sorafenib in HCC. Things continued to evolve for the better since. We at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center led the efforts studying the c-met inhibitor cabozantinib which is now an approved second- and third-line therapy for HCC.
The major switch was with the advent of immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is proud to be among the leaders of those efforts. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has a long history and an incredible portfolio of the evolution of the use of checkpoint inhibitors. The identification of CTLA4 was led by one of our colleagues who is now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This was followed by the first identification of anti-CTLA4, also led by one of our colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who later on was accorded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. We are proud to have carried on and led the first effort for the combination of anti-CTLA4 and anti-PDL1 tremelimumab plus durvalumab, which was the first time in the world to use two checkpoint inhibitors together, and we lately reported 5-year survival data of this combination.
We did not stop there or anywhere. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we continue to work and see how we can expand and help patients further with always novel therapies on the horizon.
AMJ: In your opinion, what are the most pressing issues in the current landscape of HCC research, and how can they be addressed?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: To give credit first, our colleagues all over the world, including our dear colleagues in China and the U.S., have been doing incredible work all through with regard to HCC. We are very happy and grateful to continue to collaborate with all.
We have to realize though, that despite all those efforts, there is more to be done. HCC remains a deadly disease for many. For this, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center we will continue to collaborate and enhance checkpoint inhibitors as a base therapeutic platform for HCC, while we endeavor in the new avenues for cell therapy and vaccination.
AMJ: You are a strong advocate for raising awareness and improving the outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. What initiatives or programs do you think have the greatest potential to make a difference in patient care?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: That is a very dear point to my heart. We are all humans and we need to continue to take care of each other. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we feel and take the obligation seriously. I am proud and honored to be part of having a great outreach for my colleagues all over the world to further enhance education and awareness and contribute to what really can connect us together.
We have looked into one of our published projects (1), at the divergence and convergence of worldwide populations due to migrations, wars, and other conflicts, and theorize that these could lead to changes in germline genetic inheritances of cancer plus the environmental impacts on cancer development. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we are proud to have successfully gathered 72 physicians and scientists from 34 countries throughout the world to discuss how we can connect better and further understand cancer development in areas of conflict. We are proud of our first publication, and we are now moving forward to further enhance the opportunity for the new generation of doctors and scientists to better evaluate what impacts the germline and the environmental impact on the development of cancer in areas of conflict.
Education is a vital part of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s mission. My colleagues and I train the next generation of physicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals. We also see the value of the two-way knowledge transfer between our partners. Understandably, we are not politicians nor diplomats, but if this work can further enhance the peace for humans, we are happy to be part of the work that can help bring people together.
AMJ: How has your experience been as an Editorial Board Member of AMJ?
Prof. Abou-Alfa: Congratulations to AMJ on incredible well-done efforts, all under the flag of AME Publishing Company. I am honored and delighted to be part of the board to help enhance and provide ample opportunity for new data to be shared with us from all over the world.
Reference
- Abou-Alfa GK, Norton L; Global Oncology Medical Diplomacy Working Group. Global Oncology Medical Diplomacy Working Group Inaugural Meeting: Defining Worldwide Barriers to Germline Genomics in Cancer Prevention and Management. Ann Glob Health 2023;89(1):16.