Press Releases

As bans on menthol tobacco spread across the country and a potential ban looms at the federal level, researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and their colleagues at the University of Southern California (USC) are investigating the tobacco industry’s efforts to circumvent a menthol ban enacted in California in December 2022. Those efforts could signal how they will respond to a nationwide ban on menthol tobacco proposed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), expected this fall.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Director of Radiation Research Anurag Singh, MD, has been named a 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Fellow. ASTRO is the world’s largest society for radiation oncology professionals. Dr. Singh will receive his FASTRO designation at the Society’s 65th Annual Meeting, which takes place October 1-4 in San Diego, California.

Researchers from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center report that a new approach to immunotherapy could overcome some of the challenges of treating ovarian cancer by leveraging the power of endogenous (host) T cells using engineered T cells to deliver bispecific T-cell engagers, commonly referred to as BiTEs — a trademarked term for a type of fusion protein. The research team believes this strategy could improve treatment outcomes in ovarian cancer, for which immunotherapy has been largely ineffective. Findings from their preclinical study lay the groundwork for a new approach to targeting folate receptor alpha (FR⍺), an antigen commonly present in epithelial ovarian cancer and associated with advanced disease, chemotherapy resistance and disease relapse.

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.

A novel study led by medical oncologists Deepak Vadehra, DO, and Sarbajit Mukherjee, MD, MS, to be presented in a podium presentation at the ASCO 2023 Annual Meeting is shedding light on factors that may affect treatment response in younger people with CRC. The information could guide the development of new treatments for younger patients, who typically have poorer outcomes.