Andreas Kakarougkas, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology and Director, of Biotechnology Graduate Program at the Department of Biology in the School of Sciences and Engineering at the American University in Cairo. Dr. Andreas was so moved by this year’s Blood Cancer Awareness Month campaign, he felt compelled to share his unique story: How he went from teaching and studying about cancer at a cellular level to becoming diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Dr. Andreas went on to serve as a “live example” for his students, sharing his experiences on his cancer journey to enlighten their learning experiences in his classroom.
Dr. Andreas's Diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma
Dr. Andreas was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on October 29, 2023. He shares, “I experienced right hip pain in early October 2023 which I thought was a sports injury from climbing. When the pain didn’t go away after about five days, I was referred for an MRI. There was no sports injury, and my hip looked fine, but the appearance of my bone marrow in my femur looked abnormal so I was referred to a hematologist. At that point, I had no other signs or symptoms of the disease. After some blood tests, I was sent for a bone marrow biopsy, and multiple myeloma was confirmed shortly after that. I was staged as ISS-3 with high beta-2 M and 90% bone marrow plasma cells.”
After his initial diagnosis, Dr. Andreas went from being “asymptomatic to having severe symptoms very quickly.” Because his medical insurance coverage from his employer allowed him to receive treatment in Egypt or internationally, Dr. Andreas chose to undergo treatment at the Royal Mardsen Hospital in the United Kingdom. He said, “the Royal Mardsen is one of Europe’s largest cancer centers delivering world-class cancer care, I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to have access to such great medical care.”
It all happened very fast. One week after diagnosis, Dr. Andreas relocated to the U.K. He had been experiencing rapidly progressive bone marrow failure that led to severe anemia. Once in the U.K., he underwent induction treatment according to the GRIFFIN trial on November 24, 2023.
Turning Living with Multiple Myeloma into Teachable Moments
As a busy and respected professor, Dr. Andreas declined his university’s (The American University in Cairo) offer to allow him to take medical leave. Instead, he turned living with multiple myeloma into teachable moments. So, when Dr. Andreas moved to the U.K., he switched to remote teaching, and he held synchronous classes at regular times via Zoom. He said, “I felt very connected to my students, and it was important for me to try and complete the Fall semester. I was very happy to be able to complete the courses that I was teaching in Fall 2023.”
Dr. Andreas's Students' Perspectives on His Teaching
His students were equally fortunate for Dr. Andreas’s ability to continue teaching. His student Layla shared that because of his diagnosis, she has “become a lot more aware of what it really is that we are doing as scientists in a way. In our field, it can be easy to dehumanize the molecules and cells we constantly learn about that all come to make up human beings in the end. I have always hoped that I would never reach the point where patients and samples stop becoming people with stories.”
Layla added, “Dr. Andreas teaches Genetics, which is a freshman-level course for Biology students. He literally taught me the foundations of everything I know about a cell and cancer. With him being diagnosed with it, it was both surreal and moving. In a more advanced course that Dr. Andreas teaches, Molecular & Cell Biology, we build upon the fundamental knowledge to go into the detailed pathways and compounds within the complexes that take part in cell processes, including cancerous cells. With his diagnosis, suddenly I was forced to zoom out to see the bigger picture and reality of what it all means. While science generally opens your mind to appreciate the finer elements of a larger thing, this experience has caused me to recognize the larger frame of many smaller ones.”
Another student Hager shared about Dr. Andreas’s diagnosis, “It has offered an invaluable opportunity to bridge theoretical, classroom knowledge with real-world implications. Observing the personal challenges Dr. Andreas had to face due to cancer added a profound human element to what we studied, making the complexities of cancer biology not just academic but pressing and immediate. This experience served as a reminder that cancer can affect those we know and care about, highlighting the critical importance of cancer research and the necessity for ongoing advancements in this vital field.”
Hager also said, “It made what we learned feel very real. In our Zoom meetings when we discussed the diagnosis and the effective treatments, it wasn’t a situation where the professor would say, ‘This is the information we find on the internet.’ Instead, it was ‘Yes, I know this works, I've been through it myself.’ It’s one thing to study the biological mechanisms of cancer in theory, but seeing a real-life example has brought those concepts to life in a way that textbooks cannot. It was unlike any learning experience I've ever had.”
Two other students, Farah and Mariam, both felt that the learning and teaching styles remained the same on Zoom, and they were happy the approach to the course hadn’t changed.
Farah shared, “Dr. Andreas’s diagnosis did not affect my learning experience like I thought it would. Instead, Dr. Andreas continued the learning environment that he had instilled in class even while away. His commitment to making sure that we were still understanding the material whilst in London, and presenting it in the way he did in class while on Zoom was significant. I was able to follow the topics normally and ask questions when needed.”
Mariam chimed in “Dr. Andreas was the one who taught us all about cancer and its fundamentals and was the one who basically engraved all that concerns cancer in my brain. When we heard about his diagnosis, I think we were all shocked to the point that we could not tell if this is going to be one of our cases that we would study in class, or if it is actually a real thing. I think when we came to the realization that this was real; I think we just all fazed out and thought to ourselves: ‘How can the person who taught us all about cancer be the one who was diagnosed with it?’ However, afterward, we were getting to learn more and more about the disease through Dr. Andreas who was also explaining to us the process of what a patient goes through, and suddenly, a blood sample or a result of a scan did not just become a material that we study, it became a patient with a backstory. As a learning experience, I would say that I have never learned from any course just like I have learned in this one, not just from the academic point of view but from a philosophical point of view.”
Dr. Andreas Takes Medical Leave
As of the Spring of 2024, Dr. Andreas went on medical leave. He completed his induction treatment and then underwent an autologous stem cell transplant followed by consolidation treatment.
Dr. Andreas said, “I tried to time everything so that I would be fully recovered for the start of the Fall 2024 semester. Thankfully, everything went according to plan, and I am now in deep remission. I am very happy to say that living with myeloma doesn’t have any impact on my work today as I don’t currently have any symptoms or side effects.”
The Impact of Myeloma on Dr. Andreas's Family
On a personal level, Dr. Andreas’s life with myeloma has been difficult for he and his loved ones. Dr. Andreas said, “Myeloma is an incurable cancer and that is a very scary prospect. I have three young children so I was really worried about how I would be able to be there for those that need me and depend on me. However, during this journey, I have learned that although incurable, myeloma is very much manageable and there has been huge progress in recent years. The treatment options have greatly expanded while further treatments in the pipeline promise to improve the prospects of myeloma patients even further. Having a wonderful support network of family and friends around me made a huge difference. I’m very blessed.”
Counting Our Blessings
The International Myeloma Foundation is also extremely blessed to have patients and people like Dr. Andreas Kakarougkas in our community. We share his story to help amplify multiple myeloma awareness as a whole.
In Dr. Andreas’s words, “Myeloma and blood cancers in general affect a large number of patients, but perhaps it doesn’t receive the attention of other cancers. Greater awareness of the disease can help people identify the symptoms of myeloma which can lead to earlier diagnosis. Moreover, better awareness can help myeloma patients assess the various treatment options available.”
About Andreas Kakarougkas, PhD
Andreas Kakarougkas is an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology at The American University in Cairo (AUC). He is passionate about teaching and applies the latest pedagogical approaches to enrich the learning experience of his students. He uses teaching technologies and teaching methods such as problem-based learning and blended learning to make his classes highly interactive. Kakarougkas conducts classroom research in order to assess the effectiveness of his teaching approaches.
Kakarougkas’ laboratory research focuses on how our bodies respond to carcinogens in our environment. In particular, he is interested in how damage to our DNA can lead to cancer. Currently, he is investigating the health implications of exposure to metallic nanoparticles found in air pollution. His research is particularly pertinent to Egypt due to the large number of people exposed to airborne pollutants.
