Ain Shams University President honors a Nobel Prize winner for discovering immunotherapy

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University inaugurated the thirteenth International Conference on Breast, Women’s Tumors and Immunotherapy for Tumors, in the presence of the Japanese Ambassador, Prof. Ashraf Omar, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Hatem Abu Al-Qasim, Dean of the National Cancer Institute, and Dr. Hisham Al-Ghazali, President of the Conference, and Professor of Oncology. Prof. Dr. Enas Abdel Halim, Professor of Oncology and Member of Parliament.

The conference, which was held via the Internet, witnessed the participation of more than 150 foreign scientists and experts from all countries of the world, led by Professor Tasuko Honjo, Nobel Prize winner for his discovery of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, Professor Solange Peters, President of the European Society for the Treatment of Oncology, and Professor Monica Morrow, President of the Society for Cancer Surgery Professor Sandra Swain, President of the American Society of Oncology.

Dr. Hesham Al-Ghazali, professor of oncology at Ain Shams and the president of the conference pointed out that the conference was held for the first time with video conference technology and digital transformation in the management of scientific sessions, with the presence of more than 10 thousand oncologists from around the world, and the participation of the American Oncology Society, the European Society of Oncology, and the European Society To treat gynecological tumors, the World Council for Cancer Control, and a number of Arab countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Morocco, Libya, Kuwait and Lebanon.

He explained that the conference activities witnessed the honoring of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metiny, President of Ain Shams University, to the Japanese scientist Tasuko Honjo, who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer, and the shield of Ain Shams University was presented to him due to his efforts in the field of oncology treatments that helped humanity.

He added that on the sidelines of the conference, a scientific and training agreement was signed between the International Society of Breast and Women Oncology and the Russian Oncology Society.

Also during the conference, new drugs were announced for the first time, which are from the generations of targeted hormonal therapies that increase the rates of recovery compared to chemotherapy, which was used in women before menopause, and other treatments after menopause, and also drugs from targeted hormonal therapies were announced. It is used for the first time to increase the cure rates of breast tumors with high risk coefficients, and also to announce analyzes of swimming genes that predict cure in breast tumors and other tumors.

Prof. Dr. Hesham Al-Ghazali said that immunotherapy for tumors overcame chemotherapy, and is the first line in the treatment of lung tumors of both large and small cells, as well as the first line for treatment of liver, kidney and pigment cells of the skin, and is adopted in the treatment and surgery of “super-negative breast tumors”.

Adding that immunotherapy achieves cure rates that reach twice the rates of chemotherapy in treating tumors, that is, up to 70%, in some types of tumors, and that immunotherapy treatments can be used in conjunction with or with targeted treatments to achieve high cure rates such as liver and kidney tumors.

He stressed that according to the statistics of the European Society of Oncology, the death rate for cancer patients infected with the Coronavirus is several times higher than for healthy patients, so several guidelines have been agreed for giving appropriate vaccines and serums to oncology patients, and that it is preferable not to use vaccines that contain a weak live virus for oncology patients. It is preferred to use other types that contain part of the virus or a complete dead virus.

And he advised the need to be careful in using vaccines for patients who use drugs that affect the immune system, especially "B" cells.

Professor Tasuko Honjo, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of immunotherapy to treat cancer, also gave a lecture during the conference the future of immunotherapy for tumors and how it overcomes chemotherapy and its difference from other treatments, as it remains present inside the body to prevent tumors from attacking the body again.

He emphasized that there are factors related to stimulating or activating immunotherapy, such as the beneficial bacteria in the human digestive system, "the microbiome", and that this may affect the development of new treatments and help achieve good results for cancer treatment.