Press Releases

Patients with esophageal cancer typically face a poor prognosis, largely because the disease is advanced at the time of diagnosis — and progress toward more-effective therapies has lagged. Now, armed with encouraging results from previous clinical trials, researchers at Roswell Park have launched two phase 2 clinical trials for esophageal cancer. Their goal: to determine whether a beta blocker called propranolol (brand name Inderal) can improve the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy. Approved by the FDA in 1968, propranolol is commonly used to treat high blood pressure.

Vaping cannabidiol (CBD), a compound found in marijuana, leads to more severe lung damage than vaping nicotine, according to a study out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Until now, research on the health effects of vaping, or using e-cigarettes, has focused almost exclusively on vaping nicotine as opposed to CBD. Previous research has documented the effects of smoking cannabis, but the effects of vaping cannabinoids such as CBD were not previously known.

During the 2023 American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Combined Sections Meeting, to be held February 23-25 in San Diego, California, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center physical therapists Carolyn Miller, DPT, and Hillary Jacobson, DPT, will present on a case study that showed benefits in utilizing body-weight support training as part of a cancer patient’s rehabilitation program. Andrew Ray, PhD, PT, Rehabilitation Specialist and co-author of the study, is co-moderating the oncology platform session.

Patients with early-stage estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer who live in low-income neighborhoods are likelier to have more-aggressive tumors and significantly lower overall survival (OS) than those in higher-income neighborhoods, according to research led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The study, “Association of neighborhood-level household income with 21-gene recurrence score and survival among patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer,” appears today in JAMA Network Open.

Two experts from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center are delivering presentations this week at an international conference highlighting research aimed at extending and improving the lives of patients with blood-related cancers. Nataliya Buxbaum, MD, from the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Marco Davila, MD, PhD, Vice Chair for Cellular Therapies and Senior Vice President and Associate Director for Translational Research, were invited to highlight their work in podium talks at the 2023 Tandem Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) this week in Orlando, Florida.

Investigators from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center are among the experts whose work will be highlighted February 15-19 at the 2023 Tandem Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) in Orlando, Florida. The combined annual meetings promote the exchange of information about the latest discoveries in hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy for blood-related cancers, with the aim of extending patient survival and improving quality of life.

For cancer patients, the path from treatment and beyond can be measured in ups and downs, memories created and new ones on the horizon. Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Super Bowl ad, airing in the Buffalo market Sunday, February 12, illustrates how this journey inspires many cancer patients and survivors to cherish such milestones — to celebrate life.

Recognizing physicians who have earned the high regard of fellow physicians, healthcare information resource Castle Connolly has named 38 Roswell Park physicians to its 2023 Top Doctors list. Nationally, only 7% of physicians earned designation on this year’s list.

From former Director of Nursing Eva Noles’ trailblazing efforts to the more than 800 individuals who answer the call to care for cancer patients each and every day — the Department of Nursing at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center holds a storied legacy. Roswell Park leaders and staff celebrated a new chapter in its history with the dedication of the new Marie E. Bogner Center for Nursing Excellence.