Neoadjuvant Therapy for Duodenal and Ampullary Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The role of systemic therapy in the management of ampullary (AA) and duodenal adenocarcinoma (DA) remains poorly understood. This study sought to synthesize current evidence supporting the use of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in AA and DA. METHODS: The study searched PubMed, Cochrane Library (Wiley), Embase (Elsevier), CINAHL (EBSCO), and ClinicalTrials.gov databases for observational or randomized studies published between 2002 and 2022 evaluating survival outcomes for patients with non-metastatic AA or DA who received systemic therapy and surgical resection. The data extracted included overall survival, progression-free survival, and pathologic response (PR) rate. RESULTS: From the 347 abstracts identified in this study, 29 reports were reviewed in full, and 15 were included in the final review. The selected studies published from 2007 to 2022 were retrospective. Eight were single-center studies; five used the National Cancer Database (NCDB); and two were European multicenter/national studies. Overall, no studies identified survival differences between NAT and upfront surgery (with or without adjuvant therapy). Two NCDB studies reported longer survival with NAT/AT than with surgery. Five single-center studies reported a significant portion of NAT patients who achieved PR, and one study identified major PR as an independent predictor of survival. Other outcomes associated with NAT included conversion from unresectable to resectable disease, reduced lymph node positivity, and decreased local recurrence rate. CONCLUSION: Evidence supporting the use of NAT in AA and DA is weak. No randomized studies exist, and observational data show mixed results. For patients with DA and AA, NAT appears safe, but better evidence is needed to understand the preferred multidisciplinary management of DA and AA periampullary malignancies.

International Medical Graduates Matching Into U.S. General Surgery Residency: 30-Year Match Trends.

INTRODUCTION: International medical graduates (IMGs) make up a small but important percentage of the U.S. surgical workforce. Detailed and contemporary studies on IMGs matching into U.S. general surgery residency positions are lacking. Our objective was to study these trends over a 30-y period. METHODS: We utilized the National Resident Matching Program reports from 1994 to 2023 to analyze the trends of U.S. M.D. seniors, D.O. seniors, and U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen IMGs matching into first-year categorical and preliminary general surgery residency positions. The percent of positions filled were calculated and trended over time using linear regression, where ß coefficient estimated the percentage of annual change in matched positions, and the R2 coefficient measured the amount of variance explained (perfect regression R2 = 1.0). RESULTS: Over the last 30 y, IMG match percentages have increased for both categorical (ß = 0.218%, R2 = 0.49, P < 0.001) and preliminary (ß = 0.705%, R2 = 0.76, P < 0.001) general surgery positions, with a greater increase in preliminary positions (ß = 0.705%). The percentage of positions filled by M.D. U.S. seniors in categorical positions has steadily decreased over the 30-y period (ß = -0.625%, R2 = 0.79, P < 0.001), and this decrease has largely occurred with a concurrent greater increase in U.S. D.O. seniors match percentage rates (ß = 0.430%, R2 = 0.64, P < 0.001), rather than IMGs (ß = 0.218%). Allopathic M.D. U.S. seniors preliminary match percentages have steadily decreased at the steepest rate (ß = -0.927%, R2 = 0.80, P < 0.001). In categorical positions, non-U.S. citizen IMGs' match percentages (ß = 0.069%, R2 = 0.204, P = 0.012) increased at a slightly slower rate than U.S. citizen IMGs (ß = 0.149%, R2 = 0.607, P < 0.001). In preliminary positions, non-U.S. citizen IMGs' match percentages (ß = 0.33%, R2 = 0.478, P < 0.001) increased at a similar rate as U.S. citizen IMGs (ß = 0.375%, R2 = 0.823, P < 0.0.001). In the 2023 National Resident Matching Program match, U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen IMGs together made up 10.3% of the categorical and 44.5% of the preliminary general surgery positions that were filled. For categorical positions in 2023, there was no major difference between positions matched by U.S. citizen IMGs (4.62%) and non-U.S. citizen IMGs (5.72%); on the other hand, for preliminary positions in 2023, non-U.S. citizen IMGs (31.96%) filled 2.5× times the number of positions as U.S. citizen IMGs (12.54%). CONCLUSIONS: Over the last 30 y, U.S. allopathic M.D. seniors matching into categorical general surgery positions have steadily decreased, while both U.S. osteopathic D.O. seniors and IMGs matching have increased. These data have important implications for the future U.S. surgical workforce.

Open Payments Data Analysis of General and Fellowship-trained Surgeons Receiving Industry General Payments From 2016 to 2020: Payment Disparities and COVID-19 Pandemic Impact.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize industry nonresearch payments made to general and fellowship-trained surgeons between 2016 and 2020. BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments Data (OPD) reports industry payments made to physicians related to drugs and medical devices. General payments are those not associated with research. METHODS: OPD data were queried for general and fellowship-trained surgeons who received general payments from 2016 to 2020. Payments' nature, amount, company, covered product, and location were collected. Surgeons' demographics, subspecialty, and leadership roles in hospitals, societies, and editorial boards were evaluated. RESULTS: From 2016 to 2020, 44,700 general and fellowship-trained surgeons were paid $535,425,543 in 1,440,850 general payments. The median payment was $29.18. The most frequent payments were for food and beverage (76.6%) and travel and lodging (15.6%); however, the highest dollar payments were for consulting fees ($93,128,401; 17.4%), education ($88,404,531; 16.5%), royalty or license ($87,471,238; 16.3%), and travel and lodging ($66,333,149; 12.4%). Five companies made half of all payments ($265,654,522; 49.6%): Intuitive Surgical ($128,517,411; 24%), Boston Scientific ($48,094,570; 9%), Edwards Lifesciences ($41,835,544, 7.8%), Medtronic Vascular ($33,607,136; 6.3%), and W. L. Gore & Associates ($16,626,371; 3.1%). Medical devices comprised 74.7% of payments ($399,897,217), followed by drugs and biologicals ($33,945,300; 6.3%). Texas, California, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania received the most payments; however, the top dollar payments were in California ($65,702,579; 12.3%), Michigan ($52,990,904, 9.9%), Texas ($39,362,131; 7.4%), Maryland ($37,611,959; 7%), and Florida ($33,417,093, 6.2%). General surgery received the highest total payments ($245,031,174; 45.8%), followed by thoracic surgery ($167,806,514; 31.3%) and vascular surgery ($60,781,266; 11.4%). A total of 10,361 surgeons were paid >$5000, of which 1614 were women (15.6%); in this group, men received higher payments than women (means, $53,446 vs $22,571; P <0.001) and thoracic surgeons received highest payments (mean, $76,381; NS, P =0.14). A total of 120 surgeons were paid >$500,000 ($203,011,672; 38%)-5 non-Hispanic White (NHW) women (4.2%) and 82 NHW (68.3%), 24 Asian (20%), 7 Hispanic (5.8%), and 2 Black (1.7%) men; in this group, men received higher payments than women (means, $1,735,570 vs $684,224), and NHW men received payments double those of other men (means, $2,049,554 vs $955,368; NS, P =0.087). Among these 120 highly paid surgeons (>$500,000), 55 held hospital and departmental leadership roles, 30 were leaders in surgical societies, 27 authored clinical guidelines, and 16 served on journal editorial boards. During COVID-19, 2020 experienced half the number of payments than the preceding 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: General and fellowship-trained surgeons received substantial industry nonresearch payments. The highest-paid recipients were men. Further work is warranted in assessing how race, gender, and leadership roles influence the nature of industry payments and surgical practice. A significant decline in payments was observed early during the COVID-19 pandemic.