Mohammed Najeeb Al Hallak, M.D., MS

Specialties

Oncology - Medical

Board Certification

American Board of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hematology

Multidisciplinary Team

Language(s) Spoken

Arabic, English

Locations

Karmanos Cancer Center
4100 John R
Detroit, MI 48313
Get Directions

Phone:1-800-KARMANOS

Call For Appointment

Podcast: Listen

Cancers Treatments

Cancers Treated

Locations

Karmanos Cancer Center

4100 John R
Detroit, MI 48313
Get Directions

Phone:1-800-KARMANOS

Get Directions

Education

Cancers Treatments

Clinical Trials

Randomized Phase II Clinical Trial of Olaparib + Pembrolizumab vs. Olaparib Alone as Maintenance Therapy in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Patients with Germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase II

Randomized Phase II/III Trial of First Line Platinum/Etoposide with or without Atezolizumab (NSC #783608) in Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Poorly Differentiated Extrapulmonary Neuroendocrine Carcinomas (NEC)

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase II/III

Colorectal Cancer Metastatic dMMR Immuno-Therapy (COMMIT) Study: A Randomized Phase III Study of mFOLFOX6/Bevacizumab Combination Chemotherapy with or without Atezolizumab or Atezolizumab Monotherapy in the First-Line Treatment of Patients with Deficient D

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase III

A Randomized Phase III Study of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition with Chemotherapy in Treatment-Naïve Metastatic Anal Cancer Patients

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase III

Randomized Phase III Trial of mFOLFIRINOX vs. FOLFOX With Nivolumab for First-Line Treatment of Metastatic HER2- Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase III

A Phase 1 Open-label, Dose-escalation and Cohort Expansion Study of LUNA18 Monotherapy and Combination Therapy in Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI),Lung
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

A Phase 1/1b study of ASP2074 in participants with Metastatic or Locally Advanced solid tumors

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

A Phase 1, Open-Label, Multi-Center, Dose Escalation and Expansion Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability and Clinical Activity of Decoy20 in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI),Gynecologic
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

A Phase 1b/2 Multicenter, Open-label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of TTI-101 as Monotherapy and in Combination in Participants with Locally Advanced or Metastatic, and Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI)
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I/II

A Phase 1, First-in-Human Study of DS-9606a in Patients with Tumor Types Known to Express Claudin-6 (CLDN6)

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI),Gynecologic,Lung
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

Additional Info

Dr. Al Hallak has a broad background in medicine, with specialized training in oncology. He has profound clinical expertise in managing Gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, in particular, pancreatic cancer. Additionally, Dr. Al Hallak has a robust clinical research training provided by the University of Michigan Master of Science program in clinical research design and statistical analysis, as well as a solid basic science training at Karmanos Cancer Institute.

His research focus is in gastrointestinal malignancies, specifically pancreatic cancer. The goal of his research is to better understand the molecular biology and microenvironment of GI cancers, discover new treatments and prevent treatment-induced toxicities. He is able to translate passion for improving treatment outcomes for GI cancer patients via conducting clinical trials (phase I-III), investigator-initiated and pharma-sponsored. Dr. Hallak works through translational research to identify new biomarkers that help to individualize the treatment choice for patients and provide them with an accurate prediction of the treatment effect as well as a prognosis of their cancer. He is leading the initiative to start a postmortem rapid autopsy program for pancreatic cancer patients in Detroit. Additionally, he is a co-principal investigator on our Translational Pilot Trial to study the role of different microRNAs in predicting response and resistance to Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel when used as first-line therapy for metastatic or locally advanced unresectable Pancreatic cancer patients. He is also a co-leader for the Phase II Clinical Trial to study the effect of adding XPO1 inhibitor (Selinexor) to Gemcitabine as a second-line treatment for patients with metastatic or locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer patients after non-Gemcitabine regimen failure.

Related News

April 01, 2024
IN THE NEWS: Rise in Cancer Cases Among Younger People Leads to Rise in Proactive Screenings

FOX 2 Recent celebrity announcements about cancer diagnoses, including Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, have been prompting more people to look into cancer screenings. Even more younger people are being proactive about their health. Najeeb Al Hallak, M.D., MS , member of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Phase 1 Clinical Trials Multidisciplinary Teams at Karmanos Cancer Institute, explained on FOX 2 how brave celebrities are to share their cancer diagnosis wi...
Read More
February 14, 2024
Latest Cutting-edge Technology, Digital Spatial Profiling, Helps Karmanos Investigators Understand Selinexor’s Mechanism of Action for Pancreatic Cancer

A recently published study led by researchers at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute investigates the molecular mechanism of action of Selinexor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and the tumor’s surrounding microenvironment. Asfar Azmi, Ph.D., Molecular Therapeutics (MT) Research Program Leader and Pancreas Cancer Research Director at Karmanos, guided this study titled “ Molecular analysis of XPO1 inhibitor and gemcitabine-nab-paclitaxel combination in KPC pancreatic cancer mouse model ,” publis...
Read More
January 28, 2024
IN THE NEWS: Survivor, oncologist team up to encourage colon cancer screening and understanding cancer risks

97.1 The Ticket | 1270 AM The Bet | 99.5 WYCD | 104.3 WOMC | ALT 98.7 Tenia Brim, a five-year colon cancer survivor, and her medical oncologist, Najeeb Al Hallak, M.D., MS , member of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Phase 1 Clinical Trials Multidisciplinary Teams at Karmanos Cancer Institute, discuss colon cancer and Brim’s treatment journey with the disease on the Sunday Edition. Dr. Al Hallak shares the risks that people can and cannot control when it comes...
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Awards

2023 Wayne State University School of Medicine College Teaching Award
July 2019: June 2020: Chief Fellow, Hematology-Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
November 2019: FDA-ASCO Hematology-Oncology Fellow Day Workshop Travel Grant
August 2016: Awesome Job Award; MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
May 2013: Internal Medicine Faculty outstanding teacher of the year, University of North Dakota, Fargo, ND
May 2011: Excellence in Research Award. University of North Dakota, Fargo, ND
July 2010 – June 2011: Chief Resident, Internal Medicine & Transitional Year Program, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND.

Professional Memberships

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Publications

Preclinical assessment with clinical validation of Selinexor with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Azmi AS, Khan HY, Muqbil I, Aboukameel A, Neggers JE, Daelemans D, Mahipal A, Dyson G, Kamgar M, Al Hallak MN, Tesfaye A, Kim S, Shidham V, Ramzi M, Philip PA. Clinical Cancer Research. 2019: clincanres. 1728.2019. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-1728.
Calcium Release-Activated Calcium (CRAC) Channel Inhibition Suppresses Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Proliferation and Patient-Derived Tumor Growth. Husain Yar Khan. Gabriel Mpilla, Rachel Sexton, Srikant Viswanadha, Kumar V. Penmetsa, Amro Aboukameel, Maria Diab, Mandana Kamgar, Mohammed Najeeb Al Hallak, Mark Szlaczky, Anteneh Tesfaye, Steve Kim, Philip A. Philip, Ramzi M. Mohammad and Asfar S. Azmi. Cancers. March 22, 2020, 12, 750; doi:10.3390/cancers12030750
Comprehensive genomic profiling in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, correlation with early death versus prolonged survival. Kamgar M., Dyson G., Shields AF., Tesfaye A., Philip PA., Al Hallak MN; DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2019.37.4_suppl.282 Journal of Clinical Oncology 37, no. 4_suppl. Published online January 29, 2019.
Gastric Cancer Heterogeneity and Clinical Outcomes. Rachel Sexton, Mohammed Al Hallak, Md. Uddin, Maria Diab, Asfar Azmi. Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment Journal. Accepted for publication on 06/08/2020. DOI: 10.1177/1533033820935477. KRAS G12C
Game of Thrones, which direct KRAS inhibitor will claim the iron throne? Nagasaka M, Li Y, Sukari A, Ou SI, Al-Hallak MN, Azmi AS. Cancer Treat Rev. 2020; 84:101974. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2020.101974

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Mohammed Najeeb Al Hallak, M.D., MS