Robotic Surgery Gives New Lease of Life to Ulcerative Colitis Sufferer
November 26, 2025
Oncology Center of Excellence introduces elranatamab, a new immunotherapy drug for patients with multiple myeloma who do not respond to other treatments.
Cancer patients at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) are among the first in Saudi Arabia to be treated with this breakthrough immunotherapy drug.
Four JHAH patients have received elranatamab, a new late-stage treatment for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, which was approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in mid-August for treating afflicted adult patients who have received at least four prior lines of therapy.
Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow. It decreases the body’s ability to fight infections, can lead to kidney problems, and weakens bones. “Refractory” multiple myeloma means that the cancer does not respond to one or more kinds of treatment.
Administered by subcutaneous injection, elranatamab stimulates the body’s own immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells. It belongs to a class of drugs called bispecific antibodies, which are engineered proteins that connect immune cells with cancer cells. Elranatamab is one of three approved medicines that target the BCMA antigen on cancer cells.
“Elranatamab is giving hope to multiple myeloma patients who have continually relapsed after treatment,” said Dr. Samer Abushullaih, physician manager of oncology hematology Unit. “It gives us one more treatment option when we have tried everything else — a point where previously the patient may have lost hope.”
Dr. Samer Abushullaih, physician manager of oncology hematology Unit added: “Subcutaneous injection is much simpler and easier for patients compared with other drug administration pathways.”
The first patient at JHAH to receive elranatamab had previously undergone a bone marrow transplant and CAR T-cell therapy but relapsed after each treatment.
Elranatamab was made available to JHAH patients after thorough evaluation and approval by the hospital’s multidisciplinary Drug and Therapeutics Committee, supported by the new Oncology Center of Excellence.
Throughout, JHAH strives to stay at the forefront of medical innovation as part of its mission to provide world-class healthcare and support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goal of developing a modern, comprehensive, patient-centered healthcare system.
If I was at the gym and had to go to the bathroom during a session, I’d lose concentration, which made me frustrated. And if there was pain too, I might not be able to continue. That would make me angry.
Ahmed was prescribed the maximum permissible dose of steroids to help alleviate his condition, but he was still suffering, nonetheless.
“Most patients with ulcerative colitis respond to medication but unfortunately, Ahmed is in the minority who don’t,” Dr. Rizwan Ahmad, a consultant laparoscopic and robotic colorectal surgeon at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), explains. “He was really very unwell; it was clear that his condition was handicapping him.”
After his medication stopped working, Ahmed met Dr. Rizwan in February 2024 to decide upon the best course of action. “I was afraid of having a colostomy bag,” Ahmed says. “I didn’t want that. I was only 25 at the time and I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life with a bag.”
Instead, Dr. Rizwan suggested removing Ahmed’s colon and fashioning a new one from his small intestine. The procedure, known as a restorative total proctocolectomy with ileoanal J pouch reservoir creation, means that a patient does not need a colostomy bag.
The procedure had previously been conducted in Saudi Arabia using laparoscopy, or keyhole surgery. However, Dr. Rizwan suggested that the procedure should, for the first time in the Kingdom*, be conducted with the assistance of a surgical robot — in this case, JHAH’s state-of-the-art da Vinci Xi robot.
“Very few centers in the Gulf region offer this operation, and patients typically fly to the USA or Europe for surgery,” Dr. Rizwan explains.
Ahmed agreed and underwent surgery in April 2024. It was a success.
“For the first few weeks after surgery, there were definitely challenges,” Ahmed says. “I wasn’t completely happy, but I was certainly more comfortable compared to before surgery. But after a few months, I got used to my new body. That was when I became much calmer. In fact, my family was shocked that I was not getting angry anymore!
Today, I’m very happy. I don’t have to worry about planning for bathroom trips because my frequency is down to about four times a day.
Ahmed said he would recommend the same surgery to anybody suffering as he did “because it improved my quality of life so much.”
Dr. Rizwan says: “Ahmed did brilliantly after his surgery. He now has near-normal bowel function and importantly, he no longer uses steroid medication. He messaged me four weeks after surgery wanting to know how much he could lift in the gym! We’re glad to see how strongly he has recovered and we wish him all the very best for the future.”
Learn more about colorectal surgery at JHAH
* The surgery was confirmed as a first of its kind in Saudi Arabia by Gulf Medical, the exclusive supplier of the da Vinci robot to hospitals in the Middle East.