Press Releases

An observational cohort study out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrates that race and ethnicity affect a woman’s 21-gene recurrence score, a tool used to determine risk of recurrence and distant metastasis in patients with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Based on the expression of 21 cancer-related genes detected in pre-treatment tumor specimens, recurrence score is used routinely in clinical care to identify patients who might benefit from chemotherapy as part of their treatment plan. Scores range from 0-100, with a score of 26 or higher indicating greater risk of recurrence and poorer overall survival.

Oncologists, epidemiologists and basic, translational and clinical researchers from Roswell Park have been invited to present their own research surrounding cancer management, ongoing clinical trials and more at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Research (ASCO) in Chicago, Illinois, June 2 to 6.

Every year, more than 30,000 people contact the New York State Smokers’ Quitline for help in ending their dependence on commercial tobacco products. That lifeline will remain in place, thanks to the New York State Health Department’s renewal of its contract with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, home of the Quitline since it began 23 years ago. Awarded on a competitive basis, the $20 million contract ensures funding for the program for the next five years.

Nationally prominent attorney Leecia Eve, Esq., has been named Interim Chair of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Board of Directors. A Buffalo native, she was named to the post by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, becoming the first woman and the first person of color to serve as Board Chair.

High-risk breast cancer patients who most closely followed cancer-prevention guidelines published by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and American Cancer Society (ACS) before, during and after chemotherapy experienced a 37% reduced risk of disease recurrence and a 58% reduced risk of death, according to a study led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Researchers hope the information can be used to educate patients about ways they might improve their own outcomes even after diagnosis.

Evidence-based practice changes led by nurses from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center will be highlighted – and a longtime Roswell Park nurse recognized – at the 48th annual Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress April 26-30, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas.

Metastasis, or the spread of cancer from one site in the body to another, remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Understanding how solid tumors spread is crucial to the effort to improve patient outcomes. A team of scientists led by Scott Abrams, PhD, at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center uncovered a pathway associated with metastases to the lung, a common site for cancer spread. The work, just published in the journal JCI Insight, has potentially significant implications that may point the way to new cancer therapies.

Approximately one-third of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with the targeted therapy sotorasib (brand name Lumakras) survived for at least two years after enrolling in a large clinical trial that evaluated the drug — significantly longer than what can be expected from patients treated with standard chemotherapy.

Little is known about how radiation therapy to kill cancer cells affects immune cells and other components of patient tumors. But a study out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is shedding light on that process, providing information that could be key for planning treatment regimens that combine immunotherapy and radiation therapy. The authors outline their findings in a new study in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.