Meet the two JHAH doctors recognized as “pioneers” of radiotherapy in Saudi Arabia

December 05, 2024

JHAH Dhahran, the first hospital in the Eastern Province to offer radiotherapy to cancer patients, will open an Oncology Center of Excellence in 2025

“My father died four days after he was diagnosed with cancer,” Majid Al Othman says. “I was 21 years old, in my third year of medical school. I knew there and then that I had to do something to fight this adversary.”

In July 2003, Dr. Al Othman would become the first Saudi doctor in the Eastern Province to prescribe radiotherapy to a cancer patient

__PRESENT

I felt this huge responsibility on my shoulders,” he recalls of that day. “But then my father came to mind and I realized that there I was, at the forefront of the battle with cancer. I’d fulfilled the promise I made to myself; I’d turned loss into positive action. That gave me great strength.

Dr. Majid Al Othman ›

Dr. Al Othman and his close colleague Dr. Adnan Al Hebshi, both consultant radiation oncologists at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), have been recognized in a recent journal article as “pioneers” of radiation oncology in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Al Hebshi was part of a team that in 2009 undertook the Middle East’s first treatment using CyberKnife, a robotic radiotherapy system that delivers ultra-precise beams of radiation to the smallest tumors. He was also part of a team that in 2006 conducted the first intensity-modulated radiation therapy Saudi Arabia. Before this national first, radiotherapy in Saudi Arabia was conducted in two dimensions rather than three. “I still have a photo of the patient we treated — I’ve always kept that photo with me,” he says.

Pioneering radiotherapy at JHAH

In an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research, Professor Mushabbab Al Asiri, Director of the National Cancer Center of the Saudi Health Council, explores the history of radiotherapy in Saudi Arabia and the “pioneers” who brought new technologies and techniques to the Kingdom. He notes that JHAH’s “sophisticated medical care center” was the first to offer radiotherapy in the Eastern Province.

Prof. Al Asiri writes that the incidence of various cancers “has considerably increased over the past few decades” but advances in radiotherapy “can help in the better management of these patients and can improve their quality of life”. Radiotherapy centers require “advanced infrastructure and a team of expert radiation oncologists with well-trained paramedical staff and technicians” if they are to work effectively,” he adds.

JHAH will open an Oncology Center of Excellence in 2025, bringing cancer patients precision diagnosis, pioneering treatments, and full-spectrum survivorship support to set a new regional benchmark in cancer care.

Advanced technology meets deep clinical experience

Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, uses powerful energy beams to kill cancer cells or control their growth. It is administered using a linear accelerator.

JHAH’s Radiation Oncology Unit is equipped with two Varian TrueBeam machines — advanced linear accelerators that can target tumors anywhere in the body, with accuracy measured in millimeters. This precision means that JHAH can treat 95% of tumor types, whether malignant or benign.

After completing a simulation CT scan of a patient, a JHAH radiotherapy team uses sophisticated treatment planning software to carefully “paint” the energy dose that will target the patient’s tumor, to ensure radiation exposure of nearby healthy tissue is minimized.

“For radiosurgery, these brilliant machines allow us to target tumors with extreme precision, which means patients experience far fewer side-effects,” Dr. Al Hebshi says. “Say, for example, a patient has a tumor in the middle of their brain. We can target the tumor with such precision that the patient doesn’t suffer from permanent hair loss. For appropriately-selected patients, we are practically doing virtual brain surgery without scalpels.

“But not only do we have the most advanced radiotherapy systems, we also pick the best people from the best hospitals across Saudi Arabia — so I don’t mind saying that we have the top physicists and therapists in the Kingdom. The way I think about it is: if you have a sharp sword, you need people who can wield it effectively, not just dance with it.”

Dr. Al Othman says: “All of our team members should probably be certified as obsessive-compulsive. But that’s no bad thing, because when you send out a beam of radiation, you can’t get it back.”

He says that his experience with his father helps him to empathize with cancer patients at every stage of their journey. “I think to myself: ‘What if this person in front of me was a member of my family?’ Then I’m fully focused to do everything I can to make their life better.”

Learn more about Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare’s state-of-the-art radiotherapy services