When Ahmed Ezz was 4 years old his father, a pharmacologist involved in medication irradiation and cancer research at the universities of Alexandria, Egypt, and Chicago, used to let his son tag along to his laboratory to explore.

 “Of course, being a little kid you love those white lab mice,” says Ezz, now a prominent radiation oncologist with 21st Century Oncology.

His childhood experiences in the research lab, along with his instructors at the University of Cairo School of Medicine, helped steer him into a medical career and a specialty of treating cancer.

“If you know about cancer you know about the ailments of the whole body because it can affect any part of it,” he says the instructors told him.

It is critical that the doctor and patient can communicate with and understand each other. Ezz is fluent in both English and Arabic.

After earning his medical degree at Cairo University he completed a residency in radiation oncology at the National Cancer Institute-Cairo and then stayed on to teach and do research, obtaining his doctorate in radiation oncology. Ezz also served in the medical corps of the Egyptian Army. He later went on to complete a residency and fellowship in radiation oncology at the London Regional Cancer Centre in Ontario.

Ezz mentions proudly that his father, Dr. Esmat Ezz, is a former council member of the Pugwash Conferences, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.  The purpose of Pugwash is to bring together, from around the world, influential scientists, scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems. Dr. Esmat Ezz is a former major general in the Egyptian Armed Forces and university lecturer.

Treating cancer patients runs in the Ezz family. His wife, Melissa Wilson, is a medical physicist who evaluates, monitors, and maintains radiation doses before, during, and after a patient is treated. The Ezzes met at work 12 years ago and have been married for four years. Ahmed Ezz’ parents and two brothers are also medical doctors.

He is board-certified by the American Board of Radiology and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.

Ezz has been with 21st Century Oncology since 2005. His specialty areas are:  head and neck, urological (including prostate) and gynecological cancer as well as lymphoma. He is an expert in high- and low-dose-rate brachytherapy (internal radiation); endovascular brachytherapy; 3-D conformal treatment planning; IMRT; stereotactic radiotherapy; strontium-89 for bone metastases; and TomoTherapy®.

TomoTherapy® is so precise that medical teams can treat a lung’s cancer and spare much of the lung itself, helping to reduce or eliminate undesirable side effects from radiation therapy and improve outcomes. Ezz and his colleagues are the only providers of TomoTherapy® in Oakland County, at locations in Pontiac and Clarkston; it is scheduled to be added to 21st Century in the Monroe location in July.

Cancers that can be treated with TomoTherapy® include: lung, breast, prostate, pancreas, brain and head and neck tumors.

Ezz is on staff at Botsford General Hospital, Henry Ford Macomb, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital and St. Joseph Mercy – Oakland.

He is available to speak to community groups on cancer and its treatment.

PHOTO: Dr. Ahmed Ezz is on staff at Botsford General Hospital, Henry Ford Macomb, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital and St. Joseph Mercy – Oakland.