In the News

The 2023 Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Extraordinary Performance of Clinical Service, and Outstanding Contributions to Research were presented May 19 during the annual spring faculty meeting. Dr. Xiao-Ou Shu received special recognition.

Liver cancer, primarily hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is the third most common contributor to cancer-related deaths worldwide. Early-stage HCC has a better prognosis than advanced-stage HCC and can be treated with minimally invasive surgery, including robotic-assisted and laparoscopic options. However, few studies have examined the presumably unique and discrepant short-term and long-term outcomes of robotic-assisted and laparoscopic surgeries. Read more.

A study by Vanderbilt researchers that analyzed both smoking history and genetic risk variants for lung cancer supports modifying current guidelines to include additional smokers for lung cancer screening.

Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) plus radiotherapy is the standard-of-care for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. For women over age 70, however, radiotherapy after BCS is controversial, and U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network clinical practice guidelines recommend that it may be omitted. 

The TAILORx study published last year offered good news for women with early-stage ER-positive breast cancer who scored at intermediate risk for recurrence according to a genetic assay test. The study indicated that chemotherapy after surgery provided little advantage in overall survival for these women, so they could forgo the treatment.