Professor

Richard Kirsch

Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology - Anatomic Pathology

MBChB, PhD, FRCPath(SA), FRCPC

Richard.Kirsch@sinaihealthsystem.ca

Publications

Location

Mount Sinai Hospital: Sinai Health

Address

600 University Ave., Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 1X5

Research Interests

Cancer, Infectious Diseases & Immunopathology

Clinical Interests

Pathology: Gastrointestinal, Pathology: Anatomical

Appointment Status

Primary

Research Synopsis

Primary research interests include:

colorectal cancer (special focus on prognostic and predictive factors)
inflammatory bowel disease
acute and chronic liver disease.

Selected Publications

Sari A, Cyr DP, Pun C, Shivji S, Ng D, Duan K, Brar A, Zerhouni S, Tomin R, Swallow CJ, Kennedy ED, Brar MS, Conner JR, Kirsch R. Multifocal extramural venous invasion is a powerful predictor of adverse oncological outcomes in stages I-III colorectal cancer. Histopathology. 2026 Jan;88(2):457-470. doi: 10.1111/his.15519. Epub 2025 Aug 27. PMID: 40862647; PMCID: PMC12703460.

Kennedy ED, Pooni A, Schmocker S, Brown C, MacLean A, Baxter NN, Williams L, Simunovic M, Liberman S, Drolet S, Neumann K, Jhaveri K, Kirsch R. Knowledge Translation Interventions to Address Gaps in Rectal Cancer Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2461047. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.61047. PMID: 39960667; PMCID: PMC11833516.

Bokhorst JM, Ciompi F, Öztürk SK, Oguz Erdogan AS, Vieth M, Dawson H, Kirsch R, Simmer F, Sheahan K, Lugli A, Zlobec I, van der Laak J, Nagtegaal ID. Fully Automated Tumor Bud Assessment in Hematoxylin and Eosin-Stained Whole Slide Images of Colorectal Cancer. Mod Pathol. 2023 Sep;36(9):100233. doi: 10.1016/j.modpat.2023.100233. Epub 2023 May 30. PMID: 37257824.

Pai RK, Banerjee I, Shivji S, Jain S, Hartman D, Buchanan DD, Jenkins MA, Schaeffer DF, Rosty C, Como J, Phipps AI, Newcomb PA, Burnett-Hartman AN, Le Marchand L, Samadder NJ, Patel B, Swallow C, Lindor NM, Gallinger SJ, Grant RC, Westerling-Bui T, Conner J, Cyr DP, Kirsch R, Pai RK. Quantitative Pathologic Analysis of Digitized Images of Colorectal Carcinoma Improves Prediction of Recurrence-Free Survival. Gastroenterology. 2022 Dec;163(6):1531-1546.e8. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2022.08.025. Epub 2022 Aug 17. PMID: 35985511; PMCID: PMC9716432.

Shivji S, Cyr DP, Pun C, Duan K, Sari A, Tomin R, Ng D, Brar A, Zerhouni S, Kennedy E, Brar M, Swallow CJ, Conner J, Kirsch R. A Novel Combined Tumor Budding-Poorly Differentiated Clusters Grading System Predicts Recurrence and Survival in Stage I-III Colorectal Cancer. Am J Surg Pathol. 2022 Oct 1;46(10):1340-1351. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001920. Epub 2022 May 25. PMID: 35613045.

Sari A, Cyr DP, Brar A, Messenger DE, Driman DK, Shivji S, Assarzadegan N, Juda A, Swallow CJ, Kennedy ED, Brar MS, Conner J, Kirsch R. Routine Elastin Staining in Surgically Resected Colorectal Cancer: Impact on Venous Invasion Detection and its Association With Oncologic Outcomes. Am J Surg Pathol. 2022 Feb 1;46(2):200-212. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001790. PMID: 34411028.

Loughrey MB, Webster F, Arends MJ, Brown I, Burgart LJ, Cunningham C, Flejou JF, Kakar S, Kirsch R, Kojima M, Lugli A, Rosty C, Sheahan K, West NP, Wilson RH, Nagtegaal ID. Dataset for Pathology Reporting of Colorectal Cancer: Recommendations From the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Ann Surg. 2022 Mar 1;275(3):e549-e561. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005051. PMID: 34238814; PMCID: PMC8820778.

Mitrovic B, Handley K, Assarzadegan N, Chang HL, Dawson HAE, Grin A, Hutchins GGA, Magill L, Quirke P, Riddell RH, Gray RG, Kirsch R; QUASAR Collaborative Group. Prognostic and Predictive Value of Tumor Budding in Colorectal Cancer. Clin Colorectal Cancer. 2021 Sep;20(3):256-264. doi: 10.1016/j.clcc.2021.05.003. Epub 2021 May 14. PMID: 34099382.

Ma C, Sedano R, Almradi A, Vande Casteele N, Parker CE, Guizzetti L, Schaeffer DF, Riddell RH, Pai RK, Battat R, Sands BE, Rosty C, Dubinsky MC, Rieder F, Harpaz N, Abreu MT, Bryant RV, Lauwers GY, Kirsch R, Valasek MA, Crowley E, Sandborn WJ, Feagan BG, Pai RK, Jairath V. An International Consensus to Standardize Integration of Histopathology in Ulcerative Colitis Clinical Trials. Gastroenterology. 2021 Jun;160(7):2291-2302. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.02.035. Epub 2021 Feb 19. PMID: 33610533; PMCID: PMC8851891.

Lugli A, Zlobec I, Berger MD, Kirsch R, Nagtegaal ID. Tumour budding in solid cancers. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2021 Feb;18(2):101-115. doi: 10.1038/s41571-020-0422-y. Epub 2020 Sep 8. PMID: 32901132.

Lugli A, Kirsch R, Ajioka Y, Bosman F, Cathomas G, Dawson H, El Zimaity H, Fléjou JF, Hansen TP, Hartmann A, Kakar S, Langner C, Nagtegaal I, Puppa G, Riddell R, Ristimäki A, Sheahan K, Smyrk T, Sugihara K, Terris B, Ueno H, Vieth M, Zlobec I, Quirke P. Recommendations for reporting tumor budding in colorectal cancer based on the International Tumor Budding Consensus Conference (ITBCC) 2016. Mod Pathol. 2017 Sep;30(9):1299-1311. doi: 10.1038/modpathol.2017.46. Epub 2017 May 26. PMID: 28548122.