Rania Bakkar, M.D.

Women’s cancer pathologist Rania Bakkar, M.D., was inspired to pursue a career in medicine by the examples of her parents, who were both physicians. Her specialty in breast and gynecologic pathology was motivated in part by seeing her own family members deal with cancer. In patient care, she leads with compassion and a commitment to providing state-of-the-art service.

When Dr. Bakkar joined City of Hope in 2023, she had more than a decade of clinical experience and 18 peer-reviewed scientific studies to her credit, including the publications Human Pathology, International Journal of Gynecologic Ppathology, and Cancer Cytopathology. The European Journal of Surgical Oncology has recognized her with a Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award.

Dr. Bakkar was invited to provide numerous educational lectures, seminars, and Grand Rounds talks in breast and gynecologic pathology to pathologists and trainees at local, regional, national and international meetings. She has published and written several book chapters in highly regarded textbooks in pathology and molecular pathology in the field of breast and gynecologic pathology. The focus in many of her talks, research and publications has been in the field of biomarkers, emphasizing the critical role biomarkers play in the management of women's cancers.

Dr. Bakkar was previously associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She served as director of the Anatomic Pathology Instructor Program and the Surgical Pathology Fellowship Program. Her first academic appointment was at the University of Mexico, where she was assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

Outside of work, Dr. Bakkar enjoys painting and drawing, focusing especially on portraits and depicting the human figure.

• 2019 Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award, EJSO, Elsevier
• 2011 The Diane Denson Tobola Fellowship in Ovarian Cancer Research
• 2001 Final degree of Excellent with Honors award, University of Cairo, College of Medicine

• Egyptian Medical Syndicate 2001
• United State and Canadian Academy of Pathology
• American Society for Clinical Pathology
• College of American Pathologists
• International Society of Breast Pathology
• Arthur Purdy Stout Society of surgical pathologists
• International Society of Gynecologic Pathologists

• Silva E, Malpica A, Roma A, Ramalingam P, Kim G, Bakkar R, Loghavi S, Kim S, Shaye-Brown A, Marques-Piubelli ML, Chisholm G, Gershenson DM, Alvarado-Cabrero I. Ovarian mucinous neoplasms, intestinal type, in premenopausal patients, develop in abnormal ovaries. Hum Pathol 2021 Feb;108:32-41.
• Nguyen L, Nilforoushan N, Krane JF, Bose S, Bakkar R. .Should "suspicious for high-grade urothelial carcinoma" and "positive for high-grade urothelial carcinoma" remain separate categories? Cancer Cytopathol 2021. Feb;129(2):156-163.
• Silva EG ,Kim G, Bakkar R, Bozdag Z, Shaye-Brown A., Stolnicu S, Cayax LI, Pitalua MCT,  Pinto K, M.D. Histology of the Normal Ovary in Premenopausal Patients. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2020 Feb 4;46:151475. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.
• Bakkar R., Mirocha J., Xuemo F., Frishberg D., Venturina M., Zhai, J, Bose, S. "Impact of The Paris System for Reporting Urine Cytopathology on Positive Predictive Value of The Atypical Diagnostic Category and Interobserver Agreement". CytoJournal 2019, 16:21 (22 October 2019)
• Jensen, J.A., Bakkar, R., Burnison, M., and Giuliano, A.E. Lymphovascular invasion and the decision for post mastectomy radiation therapy: A cautionary case report. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2019 Feb 8;7(2):e2115. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000002115
• Jaramillo-Huff A, Bakkar R, McKee JQ, Sokkary N. Primary Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor Arising from an Ovarian Mature Cystic Teratoma in a 12-Year-Old Girl: A Case Report. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2017 Aug;30(4):511-512. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2016.11.007.
•  Guenthoer J, Chai X, Makar KW, Carlson CS, Bakkar R, King IB, Kang H, Thompson B,  Li CI, Hsu L, Cook LS, Porter PL. Relationship of ancestry and breast cancer subtypes in Hispanic women from New Mexico and Washington State. 2016 Mar. Journal of American Association for Cancer Research. DOI: 10.1158/1538-7755.DISP15-C56
• Bakkar RM, Xie SS, Urbauer DL, Djordjevic B, Vu K, Broaddus RR. Intact PTEN Expression by Immunohistochemistry is Associated with Decreased Survival in Advanced Stage Ovarian/Primary Peritoneal High-grade Serous Carcinoma. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2015 Nov;34(6):497-506.
• Zenali M, deKay J, Liu Z, Hamilton S, Zuo Z, Lu X, Bakkar R, Mills G, Broaddus R. Retrospective Review of MET Gene Mutations. Oncoscience. 2015 May 14;2(5):533-41.
• Elhosseiny A, Bakkar R, Zenali M. Cytology of The Biliary Tree. Annals of Clinical Pathology. 2014;2(2):1015.
• Bakkar R, Gershenson D, Fox P, Vu K, Zenali M, Silva E. Stage IIIC ovarian/peritoneal serous carcinoma: a heterogeneous group of patients with different prognoses. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2014 May;33(3):302-8.
• Janku F, Broaddus R, Bakkar R, Hong DS, Stepanek V, Naingv A, Falchook GS,  Fu S, Wheler JJ, Piha-Paul SA, Moulder SL, Luthra R, Tsimberidou AM,  Kurzrock R. PTEN assessment and PI3K/mTOR inhibitors: Importance of simultaneous assessment of MAPK pathway aberrations. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2012 30:15_suppl, 10510-10510
• Godfrey GJ, Bakkar R, Farghaly H. Mature cystic teratoma of the appendix: a case report. Anal Quant Cytol Histol. 2010 Oct;32(5):295-8.
• Bakkar R, Luo G, Webb TA, Crutcher KA, De Courten-Myers GM. Down's Syndrome with Alzheimer's disease-like pathology: what can it teach us about the amyloid cascade hypothesis? Int J Alzheimers Dis. Volume 2010: 175818. Published online 2010 June 6.