Biggest Bout: Boxing commission chief takes on cancer

He went in for an X-ray, believing he may have had bruised ribs as a result of a skiing fall.

And being a doctor, Elias Ghanem figured he knew what to expect.

"I was feeling great, really," he recalled of the days leading up to a shocking discovery that even a physician struggles to accept. He had cancer of the kidneys.

"I almost couldn't believe it," he said. "I had cancer with no symptoms. There hadn't been any signs of it and I had been feeling well.

"I was fine even a month before, because I had my regular physical and a complete blood test and there was no sign of it."

The chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission as well as an extremely influential and high-profile political and social fund-raiser, Ghanem spoke publicly Monday for the first time about his health situation.

He said he's in the process of recovery following two months of what he termed "heavy duty therapy" at UCLA. Dr. Heather Allen will continue his therapy in Las Vegas.

"It's like chemotherapy but without the hair loss," he said of the series of week-long treatments he underwent at UCLA. "It was pretty tough. I wouldn't wish it on an enemy."

If detected early, the recovery rate for kidney cancer patients is said to be up to 95 percent.

Ghanem, 59, said he's beginning to bounce back and hopes to gradually return to his medical practice this summer.

"I felt like I was going through hell," he said. "I lost 20 pounds, I was weak, I was tired and I had no energy. The whole thing really got me down.

"But now I'm gaining a few pounds and making some progress. Maybe I can get back to work, lightly, in a month or so and build it up from there.

"I really miss work. It's always been my first love."

While his practice comes first, Ghanem, by virtue of his chairman's position, is a heavy hitter with the NSAC. But he said the lack of major boxing cards and related issues in Las Vegas this spring allowed him to ease back on his commission duties during his treatments in Southern California.

"I stayed in contact with Marc (Ratner) and Dr. (James) Nave," he said, referring to the NSAC executive director and a respected commission colleague, respectively. "Luckily we haven't had any big problems, so I wasn't missed in that regard."

Ghanem falls into the "cautiously optimistic" category when assessing not only his frame of mind but his immediate future.

"We caught it, but cancer is cancer," he said. "At least I'm feeling much better now. I'm feeling stronger and not nearly as tired as I was.

"I know the realities but I've decided to be positive about things. I'm going to fight this like crazy."

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