Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center are shedding light on how Body Mass Index (BMI) impacts treatment response, risk of recurrence and survival in patients with head and neck cancer. Their retrospective study, published late June in JAMA Network Open, found that head and neck cancer patients with an overweight BMI had better outcomes than those with a normal or obese BMI, including longer overall and progression-free survival and lower rates of locoregional failure — persistent or recurrent disease around the tumor site and in nearby lymph nodes. Sung Jun Ma, MD, former Department of Radiation Medicine resident at Roswell Park, is first author of the study.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has been named to the ranks of America’s Best Cancer Hospitals for 2023. It is the only Buffalo-area center included on the full list of 175 cancer hospitals across the country.

Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have launched a phase 2 clinical trial that they hope will improve both survival and quality of life for patients with recurrent ovarian, fallopian-tube or primary peritoneal cancer and malignant effusion, a side effect of the disease that significantly impairs quality of life. The study is exclusive to Roswell Park, where it was developed.

Following a national search, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has promoted Andrew Storer, PhD, DNP, RN, NP-C, FAANP, as Chief Nursing Officer, Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services and Associate Professor of Oncology.

A team at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered a link between survival and the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in the tumors of breast cancer patients. Kazuaki Takabe, MD, PhD, FACS, Clinical Chief of Breast Surgery, Breast Program Leader and Breast Disease Site Leader at Roswell Park, served as principal investigator of the new study published in Annals of Surgery. Rongrong Wu, MD, and Masanori Oshi, MD, of the Department of Surgical Oncology at Roswell Park were first authors of the study, which was completed in collaboration with colleagues in Japan.