Maen Abdelrahim VIEW CLINICAL PROFILE

Maen Abdelrahim, MD, PhD, PharmB

Associate Professor of Medicine, Academic Institute
Associate Clinical Member, Research Institute
Director, Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics, Research Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


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Biography

Dr. Abdelrahim is a gastrointestinal medical oncologist and transplant oncologist attending to patients with upper and lower GI malignancies in addition to malignancies treated by liver transplantation. He is the section chief of GI medical oncology leading GI cancer care at Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center with focus on clinical trial Phase II/III in GI malignancies. 

Dr. Abdelrahim serves as the medical Director of Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics where he is oversees Phase I program at Houston Methodist Hospital and Neal Cancer Center. He is a principal investigator on multiple clinical trials with focus on chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy in GI malignancies.

His translational research is focused on developing new mechanism-based drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. He has identified for the first time a new structural class of compounds that can target selective transcription factor that are now recognized as targets for the development of new anticancer drugs. The lead compound of this class reached Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with GI cancers.

Dr Abdelrahim has published more than 130 original research articles, review articles and book chapters in prestigious journals and publishing groups.  Dr. Abdelrahim is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, European Society for Medical Oncology and International Liver Transplant Society. He is the site principal investigator for Southwest Oncology Cooperative Group at Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center. He is on the editorial boards of several medical journals where he serves as Editor-in Chief of Transplant Oncology and Cancer Nursing Care section of Cancers and associate editor of Frontiers in Oncology.

Dr. Abdelrahim completed his pharmacy degree followed by PhD and graduate work in the field of pharmacology and toxicology from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. He obtained his medical degree from Texas A&M University, completed residency at Baylor College of Medicine, and fellowship in medical oncology at Duke University.

Description of Research

  • Targeted therapy in GI cancers
  • Transplant oncology
  • Immunotherapy
  • T cell therapy 

Dr. Abdelrahim's research has pinpointed few compounds that inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis in-part by inducing proteasome-dependent degradation of selected Sp proteins in cancer cells and tumors. The lead compound of this class (Tolfenamic acid) has reached Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer in combination with gemcitabine and radiation therapy. Dr. Abdelrahim has a patent application submitted for the new use of these compounds in GI cancers. In prior research, he was the first to find that Sp4 protein is over expressed in GI cancers including pancreatic cancer and that the role of Sp4 can be equally important as Sp1 in some type of GI cancers.

Researchers in cancer have the ultimate responsibility of taking their findings to the clinic which is described as translational research. By seeing GI cancer patients in his practice, collaborating with translational scientists in the lab and conducting and directing clinical trials, Dr. Abdelrahim hopes to continue to fuel the translational research cycle from lab to clinic and back to the lab.

 

Areas Of Expertise

Clinical trials Gastrointestinal cancer Clinical research Translation research Transplant Oncology
Education & Training

Internship, Baylor College of Medicine
Fellow, Duke University Medical Center
MD, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
PhD, Texas A&M University
B Pharm, Isra University
Active Clinical Trials

A Study to Assess the Antitumor Activity and Safety of IMAB362 in Combination With Nab-Paclitaxel and Gemcitabine (Nab-P + GEM) as First Line Treatment in Subjects With Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) Positive, Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

NCT03816163


Neoadjuvant Combination Therapy of Lenvima® plus Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) for Transplant-Eligible Patients with Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma

N/A


A Randomized, Double-blind, Phase III Study, Comparing NIS793 in Combination With Gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel Versus (vs.) Placebo Combined With Gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel for First Line Treatment of Metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

NCT04935359


Atezolizumab and Bevacizumab Pre-Liver Transplantation for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond Milan Criteria: A Feasibility Study

N/A

Publications

Molecular profiling in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma
Soliman, N, Saharia, A, Abdelrahim, M & Connor, AA 2024, , Current opinion in organ transplantation, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 10-22. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOT.0000000000001124

Immunotherapy and transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma
Tabrizian, P, Abdelrahim, M & Schwartz, M 2024, , Journal of Hepatology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2024.01.011

Transplant Oncology: An Emerging Discipline of Cancer Treatment
Abdelrahim, M, Esmail, A, Abudayyeh, A, Murakami, N, Victor, D, Kodali, S, Cheah, YL, Simon, CJ, Noureddin, M, Connor, A, Saharia, A, Moore, LW, Heyne, K, Kaseb, AO, Gaber, AO & Ghobrial, RM 2023, , Cancers, vol. 15, no. 22, 5337, pp. 5337. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15225337

Infliximab for Treatment of Immune Adverse Events and Its Impact on Tumor Response
Parvathareddy, V, Selamet, U, Sen, AA, Mamlouk, O, Song, J, Page, VD, Abdelrahim, M, Diab, A, Abdel-Wahab, N & Abudayyeh, A 2023, , Cancers, vol. 15, no. 21, 5181. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15215181

What Is Hot and New in Basic and Translational Science in Liver Transplantation in 2022? Report of the Basic and Translational Research Committee of the International Liver Transplantation Society
Bhat, M, Dondossola, D, Varghese, R, Czigany, Z, Emamaullee, J, Ghinolfi, D, Al-Adra, D, Bonaccorsi-Riani, E, Pang, L, Boteon, YL, Brüggenwirth, I, Pavan-Guimaraes, J, Ho, CM, Yuksel, M, Zarrinpar, A, Abdelrahim, M, Barbas, AS, Mas, V, Selzner, M & Martins, PN 2023, , Transplantation, vol. 107, no. 4, pp. 808-814. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004476

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Solid Tumors in the Adjuvant Setting: Current Progress, Future Directions, and Role in Transplant Oncology
Abboud, K, Umoru, G, Esmail, A, Abudayyeh, A, Murakami, N, Al-Shamsi, HO, Javle, M, Saharia, A, Connor, AA, Kodali, S, Ghobrial, RM & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , Cancers, vol. 15, no. 5, 1433. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15051433

Bis-indole-derived NR4A1 antagonists inhibit colon tumor and splenic growth and T-cell exhaustion
Mohankumar, K, Wright, G, Kumaravel, S, Shrestha, R, Zhang, L, Abdelrahim, M, Chapkin, RS & Safe, S 2023, , Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, vol. 72, no. 12, pp. 3985-3999. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-023-03530-3

451 Outcomes of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who developed an infection while receiving Atezolizumab
Xu, J, Burns, EA, Gee, K, Wiechmann, C, Zhang, Y, Kieser, RB, Umoru, G, Shah, S, Sun, K, Abdelrahim, M & Esmail, A 2023, , Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, vol. 11, no. Suppl 1, pp. A502-A502. https://doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2023-SITC2023.0451

1233 Impact of infections occurring in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors for renal cell carcinoma (RCC)
Wiechmann, C, Gee, K, Burns, EA, Xu, J, Zhang, Y, Crenshaw, A, Esmail, A, Kieser, RB, Umoru, G, Muhsen, I, Sun, K, Gong, Z, Shah, S, Singh, M, Zhang, J, Efstathiou, E & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, vol. 11, no. Suppl 1, pp. A1360-A1360. https://doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2023-SITC2023.1233

1234 Impact of infections in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Gee, K, Wiechmann, C, Burns, EA, Xu, J, Zhang, Y, Esmail, A, Crenshaw, A, Kieser, RB, Umoru, G, Muhsen, I, Sun, K, Gong, Z, Shah, S, Singh, M, Zhang, J, Bernicker, E & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, vol. 11, no. Suppl 1, pp. A1361-A1361. https://doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2023-SITC2023.1234

960P Personalized circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring for recurrence detection and treatment response assessment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Abdelrahim, M, Esmail, A, He, AR, Franses, J, Bhan, I, Victor, III, DW, Kodali, S, Connor, AA, Saharia, A, Brdiges, C, Tin, T, Brewer, C, Jurdi, A, Liu, MC & Ghobrial, RM 2023, , Annals of Oncology, vol. 34, pp. S600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2023.09.2106

Comparative molecular profiling of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma of the head versus body/tail reveals differences in the tumor immune microenvironment (time)
Weinberg, B, Abdelrahim, M, Esmail, A, Kasi, A, Esnaola, NF, Xiu, JJ & Baca, Y 2023, , Research square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3317962/v1

Pancreatic Tumorigenesis: Precursors, Genetic Risk Factors and Screening
Esmail, A, Badheeb, M & Abdelrahim, M 2023, . in EH Gad (ed.), Pancreatic Cancer: Updates in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Therapies. IntechOpen, Rijeka. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110887

P-409 Outcomes of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who developed an infection while receiving atezolizumab: Abstract Book of the ESMO 25th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2023, Barcelona, Spain, 28 June - 1 July 2023
Esmail, A, Xu, J, Burns, E, Gee, K, Wiechmann, C, Zhang, Y, Kieser, R, Gong, Z, Umoru, G, Shah, S, Sun, K, Heyne, K & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , Annals of Oncology, vol. 34, pp. S156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2023.04.465, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2023.04.465

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and disease recurrence in early stage pancreatic cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology
Gong, Z, Esmail, A & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , Journal of Clinical Oncology, vol. 41, no. 16_suppl, pp. e16313-e16313. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e16313

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Solid Tumors in the Adjuvant Setting: Current Progress, Future Directions, and Role in Transplant Oncology: Cancers
Abboud, K, Umoru, G, Esmail, A, Abudayyeh, A, Murakami, N, Al-Shamsi, HO, Javle, M, Saharia, A, Connor, AA, Kodali, S, Ghobrial, RM & Abdelrahim, M 2023, .. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15051433

Trial in Progress: Atezolizumab and Bevacizumab Pre-liver Transplantation for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma beyond Milan Criteria: Abstracts of the 15th Biennial Congress of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA), 6-9 June 2023, Lyon, France.
Abdelrahim, M, Sapisochin, G, OKane, G, Esmail, A, Saharia, A & Ghobrial, RM 2023, , HPB, vol. 25, pp. S560-S561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpb.2023.07.756

Trial in Progress: Neoadjuvant Combination Therapy of Lenvatinib Plus Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) for Transplant-eligible Patients with Large HCC: Abstracts of the 15th Biennial Congress of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA), 6-9 June 2023, Lyon, France.
Abdelrahim, M, Esmail, A, Saharia, A, Kodali, S, Victor, D, Heyne, K & Ghobrial, RM 2023, , HPB, vol. 25, pp. S560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpb.2023.07.755

Outcomes with Second-line Treatment Following First Line Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Abstracts of the 15th Biennial Congress of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA), 6-9 June 2023, Lyon, France.
Abudayyeh, A, Esmail, A, Kaseb, A, Xu, J, Abboud, K, Umoru, G & Abdelrahim, M 2023, , HPB, vol. 25, pp. S321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpb.2023.07.252

Gemcitabine Plus Cisplatin versus Non-gemcitabine and Cisplatin Regimens as Neoadjuvant Treatment for Cholangiocarcinoma Patients Prior to Liver Transplantation: Abstracts of the 15th Biennial Congress of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA), 6-9 June 2023, Lyon, France.
Abdelrahim, M, Esmail, A, Xu, J, Umoru, G, Saharia, A & Ghobrial, RM 2023, , HPB, vol. 25, pp. S223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpb.2023.07.064

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