Press Releases

One of the mechanisms that makes so-called triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) notoriously aggressive and hard to treat is its ability to disarm proteins that suppress tumors and mutate them into tumor drivers. Seeking to better understand this process, a team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center decided to focus not on what these TNBC tumors lack but something they possess: an alternate estrogen receptor, ER-beta. In a new article in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, they report that a widely used breast cancer drug, tamoxifen, can turn the ER-beta protein into a double agent capable of disrupting the processes that typically make TNBC tumors so devastating.

Researchers have observed for several years that people who have a history of using oral contraceptives are less likely to develop ovarian cancer. A team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed those connections more deeply, reporting for the first time that the protective benefit of oral contraceptives is most pronounced with the most aggressive and fatal subtypes of ovarian cancer.

Painful sores in the mouth and throat are one of the most common adverse side effects caused by radiation therapy, which is a mainstay of treatment for most cancers of the head and neck. This condition, known as oral mucositis, frequently causes quality-of-life issues such as difficulty swallowing or eating and interrupted sleep, and often necessitates prescription of opioids or other analgesics for pain control. New research from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, reports that administering radiation treatments in the morning as opposed to later in the day can significantly reduce severity of mucositis and its related impacts.

Final results from the first U.S. clinical study of a Cuban immunotherapy show that CIMAvax-EGF, a treatment targeting a particular cancer survival protein, epidermal growth factor (EGF), is safe and showed promising efficacy as part of a treatment combination with nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Principal Investigator Grace Dy, MD, will share these findings in a presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta.

Buffalo Sabre Zach Bogosian and his wife, Bianca, presented Roswell Park with $75,000 from their Casino for a Cause II fundraiser held in February.

Registration is open for Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Workshops presented by the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Paul Visco has been promoted to the role of Chief Technology Officer at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.