Clinician Investigator, Cancer Research
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

My main research interests are optimizing the quality and efficiency of palliative radiation therapy treatments and understanding and preventing symptoms and toxicities associated with advanced cancers and their treatments. My group's prospective studies commonly involve collecting patient-reported outcomes using validated questionnaires and screening tools. Ultimately we aim to better characterize, quantify, understand and predict symptoms and treatment-induced toxicities experienced by patients with gastrointestinal and metastatic cancers. This will allow for personalized approaches to symptom management and prevention that will integrate with anti-cancer treatment plans. 

Dr. Kristopher Dennis MD FRCPC PhD is an associate professor in the Division of Radiation Oncology at the University of Ottawa. and a radiation oncologist in the Radiation Medicine Program at The Ottawa Hospital where he leads the Gastrointestinal and Palliative Radiotherapy disease site groups. Dr. Dennis is Chair of the Supportive Care Committee of the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology and Chair of the Canadian Palliative Radiation Oncology Group.

Dawson LA, Ringash J, Fairchild A, Stos P, Dennis K, Mahmud A, Stuckless TL, Vincent F, Roberge D, Follwell M, Wong RKW, Jonker D, Knox JJ, Zimmermann C, Wong P, Barry AS, Gaudet M, Wong RKS, Purdie TG, Tu D, O’Callaghan CJ. Palliative radiotherapy versus best supportive care in patients with painful hepatic cancer (CCTG HE1): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3 study. Lancet Oncol 2024;25(10):1337-1346. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00438-8.

Alcorn A, Cortes AA, Bradfield L, Brennan M, Dennis K, Diaz DA, Doung YC, Elmore S, Hertan L, Johnstone C, Jones J, Larrier N, Lo SS, Nguyen QN, Tseng YD, Yerramilli D, Zaky S, Balboni T. External beam radiation therapy for palliation of symptomatic bone metastases: an ASTRO clinical practice guideline. Pract Radiat Oncol 2024;14(5):377-397. doi:10.1016/j.prro.2024.04.018.

Ruhlmann CH, Jordan K, Jahn F, Maranzano E, Molassiotis A, Dennis K. 2023 Updated MASCC/ESMO consensus recommendations: prevention of radiotherapy- and chemoradiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Support Care Cancer 2024;32(26). doi:10.1007/s0052-023-08226-z.

Dennis K, Linden K, Gaudet M. A shift from simple to sophisticated; using intensity-modulated radiation therapy in conventional non-stereotactic palliative radiotherapy. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care 2023;17(1):70-76. doi:10.1097/SPC.0000000000000639.

Orton E, Ali E, Mayorov K, Brown C, Usmani N, Lefresne S, Peacock M, Dennis K. A contouring strategy and reference atlases for the full abdominopelvic bowel bag on treatment planning and cone beam computed tomography images. Adv Radiat Oncol 2022;7(6):101031. doi:10.1016/j.adro.2022.101031.

Dennis K, Linden K, Zohr R, McGrath C, MacPherson M, Renaud J, Granville D, Gaudet M, Ali E. A pre-implementation study of volumetric modulated arc therapy for same-day planning and treatment of vertebral bone metastases within a rapid-access palliative radiotherapy program. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2021;33(10):661-666. Doi:10.1016/j.clon.2021.04.012.

Squires JE, Asad S, Varin MD, Dorrance K, Chow E, Fairchild A, Wong R, Graham ID, Grimshaw JM, Dennis K. Behavioral determinants of Canadian radiation oncologists’ use of single fraction palliative radiation therapy for uncomplicated bone metastases. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2021;109(2):374-386. Doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.09.030.

Dennis K, Harris G, Kamel R, Barnes T, Balboni T, Fenton P, Rembielak A. Rapid access palliative radiotherapy programmes. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2020;32(11):704-712. Doi: 10.1016/j.clon.2020.08.002.

Dennis K, Zeng L, De Angelis C, Chung H, Coburn N, Chow E, Wong CS. A prospective cohort study of patient-reported vomiting, retching, nausea and antiemetic use during neoadjuvant long-course radiation therapy and concurrent 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy for rectal adenocarcinoma. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 2018;10:42-46. Doi:10.1016/j.ctro.2018.04.001.

Dennis K, Jamani R, McGrath C, Makhani L, Lam H, Bauer P, De Angelis C, Coburn N, Wong CS, Chow E. A systematic review of methodologies, endpoints and outcome measures in randomized trials of radiation therapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Support Care Cancer 2017;25(6):2019-2033. doi: 10.1007/s00520-017-3685-9.

Chow E, Meyer RM, Ding K, Nabid A, Chabot P, Wong P, Ahmed S, Kuk J, Dar AR, Mahmud A, Fairchild A, Wilson CF, Wu JS, Dennis K, Brundage M, DeAngelis C, Wong RK. Dexamethasone in the prophylaxis of radiation-induced pain flare after palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases: a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Nov;16(15):1463-72. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00199-0.
 
Nausea and vomiting induced by gastrointestinal radiation therapy: current status and future directions. Dennis K, Poon M, Chow E. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2015 Jun;9(2):182-8. doi: 10.1097/SPC.0000000000000130.

Dennis K, Zhang L, Lutz S, van Baardwijk A, van der Linden Y, Holt T, Foro Arnalot P, Lagrange JL, Maranzano E, Liu R, Wong KH, Wong LC, Vassilios V, Corn BW, De Angelis C, Holden L, Wong CS, Chow E. International patterns of practice in the management of radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 84(1):e49-60, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2012.02.031.  

Cancer; Colorectal cancer; Gastric cancer; Liver cancer; Pain; Pancreatic cancer

Behaviour; Biomarkers; Biomarkers; Clinical research; Clinical trials; Cohort studies; Health professional behaviour change; Health services research; Palliative care; Pragmatic trials; Qualitative methods; Quality Improvement; Systematic reviews