Roswell Park Teams Present Research at National Surgical Oncology Meeting

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nine Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center teams have been invited to present their research at the 68th annual Cancer Symposium of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO), March 25–28 in Houston, Texas. Roswell Park faculty and fellows will present on topics including predictors of response for patients receiving esophagectomies and other cancer surgeries.

“Roswell Park surgeons will be well represented at this prestigious meeting of surgical oncologists,” said William Cance, MD, FACS, Past-President of SSO, Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair, Dept. of Surgical Oncology at Roswell Park. “One of the highlights of our presentations this year are a couple of very clever approaches to predicting patient outcomes following cancer surgery. We’re proud of this work and pleased to present it to our colleagues.”

Moshim Kukar, MD, and Steven Hochwald, MD, FACS, faculty members in the Roswell Park Department of Surgical Oncology, along with surgical oncology fellow Smit Singla, MD, MRCS (Edinburgh), MSc, led research into the impact of surgery timing and pathological response on patient outcome. The team’s analysis of 226 patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer and treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation at Roswell Park found that an improved survival rate was more dependent upon a complete pathologic response than the time of the esophagectomy. The groups were similar with respect to age, sex, location and grade of tumor, and other criteria. The study found that regardless of the timing of their surgery, overall survival rates were statistically higher for patients with a complete pathologic response.

Oral presentation title: “Complete Pathologic Response is Independent of the Timing of Esophagectomy and is Predictive of Improved Survival Following Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation for Esophageal Cancer”
Abstract number: 25 — Sarcoma/Thoracic/Esophageal session
Authors: Smit Singla, MD, MRCS (Edinburgh), MSc, Moshim Kukar, MD, Raed Alnaji, MD, Kristopher Attwood, PhD, Hector Nava, MD, Steven Nurkin, MD, MS, FACS, Boris Kuvshinoff, MD, MBA, Steven Hochwald, MD, FACS, all from Roswell Park and William Du from the University at Buffalo

Another Roswell Park team, led by Clinical Fellow Rebecca Tuttle, MD, and faculty member Moshim Kukar, MD, examined what happens to patients who experience a serious complication after cancer surgery. They created a model to identify patient characteristics that predict a worse outcome in the event of a serious complication after major cancer resection. The analysis included patients with different cancer types, including pancreatic, lung, colorectal, esophageal and stomach. Using a national database of patient information, specific risk factors were identified that were independently associated with poorer patient outcomes. These factors and outcomes were then used to generate a statistically-effective model. The model gives patients a “risk score” for 30-day mortality and non-home discharge disposition. The Roswell Park team reports that identification of specific risk factors will allow for more informed preoperative discussions with patients about their expected outcomes in the event that they experience a serious postoperative complication.

Poster title: “Preoperative Risk Assessment Tool to Predict Worse Outcomes in Patients with Serious Complications after Major Oncologic Surgery”
Poster number: 294 — Quality Improvement/Clinical Outcomes session
Authors: Kristopher Attwood, PhD, Steven Nurkin, MD, MS, FACS, Boris Kuvshinoff, MD, MBA, Steven Hochwald, MD, FACS, and Moshim Kukar, MD, all from Roswell Park

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The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park is one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org. Follow Roswell Park on Facebook and Twitter.