Leonid Cherkassky

MD
Surgical Oncology
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Cancers Treated:

Specializing In:

Immunotherapy Liver Surgery, including resection of colorectal liver metastases Pancreatic Surgery Bile duct Surgery Gastric Surgery Colorectal Surgery Adrenal Surgery

Research Interests:

T cell immunotherapy Laparoscopic and robotic liver, bile duct, and pancreatic surgery Improving rates of surgical resection for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

About Leonid Cherkassky

Biography:

I am a surgical oncologist who specializes in treating patients with gastrointestinal benign and cancerous disease, with a special focus on liver, bile duct, gallbladder, pancreas, and colorectal cancer. My passion is to work with my colleagues to provide multidisciplinary care, combining surgery with other modalities so our patients can become long-term cancer survivors.

My personal role is to provide experienced surgical care to maximize the number of patients who benefit from resecting these tumors and to provide minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic approaches whenever possible to allow faster patient recovery. I pride myself in providing each patient with the utmost attention to detail and giving care in a speedy, efficient way to ease anxiety and optimize outcomes.

I am the principal investigator of Roswell Park's pancreas cancer quality of care program. Supported by the 1440 Foundation, Roswell Park is a member of the Canopy Cancer Collective, a learning network of leading national institutions (www.canopycancer.org). Our same day multidisciplinary clinic for pancreas cancer patients whereby patients meet with multiple disciplines (surgery, medical oncology, genetics, nutrition) to create a tailored treatment plan ensures patients receive coordinated and efficient care. Our dedicated pancreas cancer nurse navigator further ensures all of our patients receive the highest quality of care and have access to all of Roswell's exceptional resources. We work together to successfully combine surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation so that patients become — and remain — cancer free.

In addition to caring for patients, I conduct laboratory and translational research within the Department of Translational Immuno-Oncology to develop immunotherapies for the treatment of pancreas, liver, bile duct, and colorectal cancers. Even when these cancers are able to be surgically removed, there is often disease that has already spread that can lead to the cancer coming back (‘relapse’). My goal is to combine surgery with immunotherapy to both remove the tumor and treat any disease that has already spread prevent relapse. I focus specifically on developing gene-engineered T cell therapies, a type of immunotherapy where we take T cells and ‘teach’

them to recognize cancer cells. This is done by putting genetic material into T cells (‘gene-engineer’ them) so they can express a receptor that allows them to attack and kill cancer cells. Since T cells can persist for a long time (form ‘memory’) and can circulate throughout the blood, they have particular promise for treating metastatic cancers, preventing cancer relapse after surgery, and achieving long-term responses.

 

Lab Members:

Jiayu Wang, PhD

Positions

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • Assistant Professor of Oncology
  • Department of Surgical Oncology
  • Department of Translational Immuno-Oncology

Background

Education and Training:

  • 2004-2009 - MD - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio

Residency:

  • 2009-2017 - General Surgery, Brown University, Providence, RI

Fellowship:

  • 2011-2014 - Research fellowship, T cell immunotherapy, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  • 2017-2019 - Clinical fellowship, Complex General Surgical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Board Certification:

  • 2020 – Board Certified Complex General Surgical Oncology
  • 2018 - Board Certified General Surgery

Professional Memberships:

  • Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO)
  • American College of Surgeons

Honors & Awards:

  • 2019 Young Investigator Award, Conquer Cancer Foundation/American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • 2016 Cover of Journal of Clinical Investigation T cell therapy to treat solid tumors
  • 2012 American College of Surgeons Resident Research Scholarship
  • 2008 American Society of Nephrology Student Scholar Grant

Featured on Cancer Talk


Publications

Full Publications list on PubMed
  • Cherkassky L, D'Angelica M. Gallbladder Cancer: Managing the Incidental Diagnosis. Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2019 Oct;28(4):619-630. doi: 10.1016/j.soc.2019.06.005. PMID: 31472909.
  • Cherkassky L, Jarnagin W. Selecting treatment sequence for patients with incidental gallbladder cancer: a neoadjuvant approach versus upfront surgery. Updates Surg. 2019 Jun;71(2):217-225. doi: 10.1007/s13304-019-00670-z. Epub 2019 Jun 28. PMID: 31254234.
  • Cherkassky L, Morello A, Villena-Vargas J, Feng Y, Dimitrov DS, Jones DR, Sadelain M, Adusumilli PS. Human CAR T cells with cell-intrinsic PD-1 checkpoint blockade resist tumor-mediated inhibition. J Clin Invest. 2016 Aug 1;126(8):3130-44. doi: 10.1172/JCI83092. Epub 2016 Jul 25. PMID: 27454297; PMCID: PMC4966328.
  • Adusumilli PS, Cherkassky L, Villena-Vargas J, Colovos C, Servais E, Plotkin J, Jones DR, Sadelain M. Regional delivery of mesothelin-targeted CAR T cell therapy generates potent and long-lasting CD4-dependent tumor immunity. Sci Transl Med. 2014 Nov 5;6(261):261ra151. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3010162. PMID: 25378643; PMCID: PMC4373413.
  • Cherkassky L, Lanning M, Lalli PN, Czerr J, Siegel H, Danziger-Isakov L, Srinivas T, Valujskikh A, Shoskes DA, Baldwin W, Fairchild RL, Poggio ED. Evaluation of alloreactivity in kidney transplant recipients treated with antithymocyte globulin versus IL-2 receptor blocker. Am J Transplant. 2011 Jul;11(7):1388-96. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2011.03540.x. Epub 2011 May 12. PMID: 21564525; PMCID: PMC3226763.