Antoine (Tony) Eskander

Faculty Member

Dr. Antoine Eskander is a head and neck oncologist and reconstructive surgeon at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Head and Neck Disease Site Lead at the Odette Cancer Centre, and Chief of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at Michael Garron Hospital. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Adjunct Scientist at ICES, and Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute. He is also the current Lead and Chair of the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery (CSOHNS) Collaborative Research Initiative and Research Lead for the Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Eskander is an internationally recognized researcher in the areas of head and neck cancers, health services research, clinical epidemiology, and quality improvement. He is interested in studying access to care, disparities in care, adherence to guidelines, volume-outcome associations, and quality metrics.

Dr. Eskander’s main areas of focus have been in:

  • the management of mucosal head and neck cancers in Ontario with a focus on quality metrics
  • thyroid and parathyroid surgery outcomes in Ontario with a focus on structures of care that may impact outcomes
  • the management of cancer patients during the COVID19 pandemic, how this may have impacted outcomes and developing a roadmap for recovery
  • self-harm in cancer patients; the incidence, predictors and outcomes
  • integrated community health service centre development in Canada as a means to improve surgical wait times and outcomes

He has received numerous grants to support his research work from granting agencies such as Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), and Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI).  

Dr. Eskander’s academic interests include:

  • Clinical Epidemiology
  • Clinical Trials
  • Head and Neck Oncology
  • Endocrine Surgery (Thyroid and Parathyroid)
  • Health Economics
  • Health Outcomes Research
  • Meta-Analysis
  • Clinical Practice Guidelines
  • Outcomes Research
  • Quality Metrics

Professional Interests:

Dr. Eskander’s clinical interests include:

  • Clinical Research
  • Endocrine Surgery
  • Head & Neck Surgery
  • Head and Neck Oncology
  • Head and Neck Reconstruction
  • Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
  • Microvascular and Free Tissue Transfer
  • Parathyroid Disorders
  • Salivary Gland Disease
  • Thyroid Cancer
  • Thyroid Surgery
  • Transoral Robotic Surgery
  • Thyroid Radiofrequency Ablation

Impact:

Ontario-wide research atlas shows stable rates of head and neck cancers, except for rise in HPV-related throat cancer(opens in a new window), ICES (Nov. 19, 2015)

Eskander A, Irish JC, Urbach DR, Goldstein DP. Head and Neck Cancer Surgery in Ontario, 2003‒2010: An ICES Atlas. https://www.ices.on.ca/Publications/Atlases-and-Reports/2015/Head-and-Neck-Cancer-Surgery-Atlas (November 2015).

Eskander A, Li Q, Yu J, Hallet J, Coburn NG, Dare A, Chan KKW, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Hanna TP, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong N, Irish JC, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Noel CW, Urbach DR, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Sutradhar R. Incident Cancer Detection During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 Feb 1;20(3):276-284.

Noel CW, Du YJ, Baran E, Forner D, Husain Z, Higgins KM, Karam I, Chan KKW, Hallet J, Wright F, Coburn NG, Eskander A, Gotlib Conn L. Enhancing Outpatient Symptom Management in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: A Qualitative Analysis. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Apr 1;148(4):333-341.

Noel CW, Sutradhar R, Zhao H, Delibasic V, Forner D, Irish JC, Kim J, Husain Z, Mahar A, Karam I, Enepekides DJ, Chan KKW, Singh S, Hallet J, Coburn NG, Eskander A. Patient-Reported Symptom Burden as a Predictor of Emergency Department Use and Unplanned Hospitalization in Head and Neck Cancer: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Feb 20;39(6):675-684.

Hallet J, Sutradhar R, Isenberg-Grzeda E, Noel CW, Mahar AL, Vigod SN, Bolton J, Deleemans J, Chan WC, Coburn NG, Eskander A; Enhanced Supportive Psycho-oncology Canadian Care (ESPOC) Group. Association of Patient-Reported Outcomes With Subsequent Nonfatal Self-injury After a New Cancer Diagnosis. JAMA Oncol. 2022 May 1;8(5):e220203. 

Noel CW, Eskander A, Sutradhar R, Mahar A, Vigod SN, Isenberg-Grzeda E, Bolton J, Deleemans J, Chan WC, Vasdev R, Zuk V, Haas B, Mason S, Coburn NG, Hallet J; Enhanced Supportive Psycho-oncology Canadian Care (ESPOC) Group. Incidence of and Factors Associated With Nonfatal Self-injury After a Cancer Diagnosis in Ontario, Canada. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Sep 1;4(9):e2126822.

Fu R, Tinmouth J, Li Q, Dare A, Hallet J, Coburn N, Lapointe-Shaw L, Look Hong NJ, Karam I, Rabeneck L, Krzyzanowska M, Sutradhar R, Eskander A. COVID-19 pandemic impact on the potential exacerbation of screening mammography disparities: A population-based study in Ontario, Canada. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Dec 25;37:102578. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102578. PMID: 38222304; PMCID: PMC10787238.

Hallet J, Sutradhar R, Jerath A, d’Empaire PP, Carrier FM, Turgeon AF, McIsaac DI, Idestrup C, Lorello G, Flexman A, Kidane B, Kaliwal Y, Chan WC, Barabash V, Coburn N, Eskander A. Association Between Familiarity of the Surgeon-Anesthesiologist Dyad and Postoperative Patient Outcomes for Complex Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgery. JAMA Surg. 2023 May 1;158(5):465-473. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2022.8228. Erratum in: JAMA Surg. 2023 Apr 5;: PMID: 36811886; PMCID: PMC9947805.

Eskander A, Noel CW, Griffiths R, Pasternak JD, Higgins K, Urbach D, Goldstein DP, Irish JC, Fu R. Surgeon Thyroidectomy Case Volume Impacts Disease-free Survival in the Management of Thyroid Cancer. Laryngoscope. 2023 May;133 Suppl 4:S1-S15. doi: 10.1002/lary.30276. Epub 2022 Jul 7. PMID: 35796293.

Fu R, Sutradhar R, Li Q, Hanna TP, Chan KKW, Irish JC, Coburn N, Hallet J, Dare A, Singh S, Parmar A, Earle CC, Lapointe-Shaw L, Krzyzanowska MK, Finelli A, Louie AV, Look Hong NJ, Witterick IJ, Mahar A, Urbach DR, McIsaac DI, Enepekides D, Eskander A. Association between the COVID-19 pandemic and first cancer treatment modality: a population-based cohort study. CMAJ Open. 2023 May 9;11(3):E426-E433. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20220102. PMID: 37160325; PMCID: PMC10174267.

Levy BB, Goodman J, Eskander A. Oral healthcare disparities in Canada: filling in the gaps. Can J Public Health. 2023 Feb;114(1):139-145. doi: 10.17269/s41997-022-00692-y. Epub 2022 Sep 23. Erratum in: Can J Public Health. 2022 Nov 2;: PMID: 36149572; PMCID: PMC9510506.

Parmar A, Eskander A, Sander B, Naimark D, Irish JC, Chan KKW. Impact of cancer surgery slowdowns on patient survival during the COVID-19 pandemic: a microsimulation modelling study. CMAJ. 2022 Mar 21;194(11):E408-E414. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.202380. PMID: 35314440; PMCID: PMC9053956.

Noel CW, Griffiths R, Siu J, Forner D, Urbach D, Freeman J, Goldstein DP, Irish JC, Higgins KM, Devon K, Pasternak JD, Eskander A. A Population-Based Analysis of Outpatient Thyroidectomy: Safe and Under-Utilized. Laryngoscope. 2021 Nov;131(11):2625-2633. doi: 10.1002/lary.29816. Epub 2021 Aug 11. PMID: 34378810.

Eskander A, Marqueen KE, Edwards HA, Joshua AM, Petrella TM, de Almeida JR, Goldstein DP, Ferket BS. To ban or not to ban tanning bed use for minors: A cost-effectiveness analysis from multiple US perspectives for invasive melanoma. Cancer. 2021 Jul 1;127(13):2333-2341. doi: 10.1002/cncr.33499. Epub 2021 Apr 12. PMID: 33844296.

Other Affiliations: