Hillsborough Junior Co-Authors 3 Cancer Research Abstracts For Global Conference

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A Hillsborough student has co-authored three oncology-focused research abstracts submitted to the American Society of Clinical Oncology(ASCO) Annual Meeting proceedings.

Noor Fatima, a junior at the Academy for Health and Medical Sciences, first became interested in medicine during COVID when her family moved to the United States from Switzerland, while many of her relatives remained in Pakistan.

During that time, several people in Fatima's family died, one of her cousins was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and her dad’s best friend also died from cancer.

"Being so far away broke my heart because it felt so unfair. My family could call, pray, and just worry, but we could not actually be there. I kept thinking about how different illness feels when someone does not have easy access to doctors, testing, or treatment," said Fatima to Patch. "It made me realize that medicine is not just about science. It is also about whether someone gets help before it is too late."

Now she is hoping to help people in places like Pakistan and other underserved communities, where families often face illness with fewer resources and fewer answers.

The ASCO Annual Meeting is one of the largest oncology conferences in the world. It receives thousands of research abstract submissions each year, with only a select portion chosen for inclusion in its proceedings.

As a high school student interested in medicine, oncology, and clinical research, Fatima independently contacted more than 100 medical professionals and physician-researchers in a single night to seek opportunities to contribute to ongoing research.

Through her initiative, persistence, and professionalism, she was able to collaborate on oncology-focused projects involving retrospective cohort studies, meta-analyses, scientific writing, and evidence synthesis.

The three abstracts are titled "Clinicopathological spectrum and HER2/MSI biomarker status in gastric adenocarcinoma: A tertiary care retrospective cohort from Pakistan"; "Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Plus Chemotherapy Versus Chemotherapy Alone as First-Line Treatment for Unresectable or Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials"; and "Helicobacter pylori Infection, Systemic Inflammation, and Colorectal Cancer: A Prospectively Enrolled Case–Control Study."

Fatima contributed through literature review, evidence synthesis, data analysis, scientific writing, abstract preparation, editing and collaboration with physician researchers.

She said it "feels exciting" to collaborate and co-author on the abstracts.

"I never thought high school students could be involved in research at this level. At first, medical research seemed far away and intimidating, but working on these abstracts made it feel possible," said Fatima.

She noted that her passion for reading has helped with her research.

"I realized that research is a lot of reading closely, asking better questions, comparing information, and trying to understand what the data is actually showing. I have always loved reading and writing. Growing up, I used to finish a 300-page book in one day, so I think that passion for reading naturally carried into research," said Fatima.

Fatima said she is aware that one abstract is not going to change medicine overnight, but she understands that research is built in small pieces.

"My abstracts add to questions doctors and researchers are still working through, like how biomarkers can guide treatment, how inflammation may relate to cancer, and why certain treatments work better for some patients than others," said Fatima.

What matters most to her is that the work includes patients from Pakistan.

"I think medical research should include people from countries that are often left out of major studies. Even if my role is small, I am proud to contribute to work that helps make cancer research a little more informed and a little more representative," said Fatima.

She said she hopes to continue research in the future, though not only in oncology.

"I am also interested in psychology, neuroscience, and public health," Fatima said. "In the future, I want to continue doing research that helps people, especially families who feel far away from good healthcare, the way mine did."

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