Assessing the debt and current state of financial literacy in a cohort of diagnostic & interventional radiology residents.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to assess diagnostic and interventional radiology resident physicians' knowledge of core facets of financial literacy: loans, real estate, investments and retirement, and insurance, with the goal of determining the need for formal financial literacy education within radiology residency programs. METHODS: From May 2021 to March 2022, surveys were sent to 196 diagnostic and 90 interventional radiology residency programs. Residents were asked 10 knowledge multiple choice questions to assess areas of financial literacy. Custom R programming was used to evaluate responses. RESULTS: A total of 149 diagnostic radiology residents and 49 interventional radiology residents responded to portions of the survey, for a total of 198 respondents. Of the cohort with demographic data collected, 84 out of 141 residents (60 %) had over $100,000 of debt following medical school graduation, with 115 out of 146 DR residents (79 %) and 41 out of 47 (87 %) IR residents reporting no coursework in finance. CONCLUSIONS: Many radiology resident physicians have a significant debt burden, no official financial education, and clear knowledge gaps in areas of financial literacy. A structured financial education curriculum could better prepare residents for the financial realities of post-residency life.

Health System Integration and Cancer Center Access for Rural Hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Cancer centers provide superior care but are less accessible to rural populations. Health systems that integrate a cancer center may provide broader access to quality surgical care, but penetration to rural hospitals is unknown. METHODS: Cancer center data were linked to health system data to describe health systems based on whether they included at least one accredited cancer center. Health systems with and without cancer centers were compared based on rural hospital presence. Bivariate tests and multivariable logistic regression were used with results reported as P-values and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Ninety percent of cancer centers are in a health system, and 72% of health systems (434/607) have a cancer center. Larger health systems (P = .03) with more trainees (P = .03) more often have cancer centers but are no more likely to include rural hospitals (11% vs 6%, P = .43; adjusted OR .69, 95% CI .28-1.70). The minority of cancer centers not in health systems (N = 95) more often serve low complexity patient populations (P = .02) in non-metropolitan areas (P = .03). DISCUSSION: Health systems with rural hospitals are no more likely to have a cancer center. Ongoing health system integration will not necessarily expand rural patients' access to surgical care under existing health policy infrastructure and incentives.

PET/MRI for evaluation of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancers are the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the USA and outcomes remain poor despite improvements in imaging and treatment paradigms. Currently, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are frequently utilized for staging and restaging of these malignancies, but positron emission tomography (PET)/CT can play a role in troubleshooting and improve whole-body staging. PET/MRI is a novel imaging modality that allows for simultaneous acquisition of PET and MRI images, leading to improved image quality and potential increased sensitivity. Early studies suggest that PET/MRI may play a larger role in pancreatic cancer imaging in future. This manuscript will briefly discuss current imaging approaches to pancreatic cancer and outline existing evidence and published data supporting the use of PET/MRI for pancreatic cancers.

Incidence and Risk Factors for Incidental Cancer on Melanoma Wide Excisions.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer patients and survivors have a high risk of developing additional malignancies. Patients who undergo melanoma excision often have sun-damaged skin and are predisposed to concurrent and subsequent skin cancers. The unexpected finding of an incidental cancer on melanoma wide excisions can require further surgery and delays adjuvant treatment. We aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors for incidental skin cancers in patients who had surgical excision of melanoma. METHODS: Our single-center retrospective study analyzed all patients diagnosed with primary melanoma at our institution from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. We included patients with localized cutaneous melanoma who underwent surgical excision and had relevant pathology data available. Descriptive statistics and univariate analyses were performed on the demographic, clinical, and pathological data collected. We analyzed differences between the groups with and without incidental cancer to ascertain risk factors using chi-squared tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Dunn's tests with Bonferroni correction were performed for multiple pairwise comparisons. RESULTS: There were 642 patients who met the criteria for inclusion, of whom 13 (2.0%) had incidental cancers identified on a pathologic assessment. Six (46%) had incidental squamous cell carcinoma and seven (54%) had basal cell carcinoma. With regard to management of incidental cancer, three (23%) patients required additional surgery for margin re-excision. Risk factors for incidental cancers in melanoma excision included older age (median 79 versus 62 y, P < 0.001), male sex (P = 0.042), and primary tumor location in the head/neck region relative to trunk (P < 0.01) or extremity (P < 0.01) primary sites. CONCLUSIONS: Although the frequency of incidental findings on melanoma excision is low, certain patients are at a greater risk including older male individuals with head/neck melanomas. These findings can be used to improve preoperative counseling of at-risk patients when melanoma excision is planned.

Burden of Care for Patients With In-Transit Melanoma.

INTRODUCTION: Patient burden of cancer care can be significant, especially for cancers like melanoma where patients are living longer, even with advanced disease. The purpose of this study is to compare the burden of treatment of melanoma patients with in-transit metastases (ITM). There are multiple treatment options for ITM, but no standard due to lack of large cohort comparative studies; thus, the anticipated burden of care may influence therapy choice. METHODS: Included patients had in-transit melanoma without distant metastasis and were managed at our institution from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2020 using a combination of surgery, systemic, intralesional, and radiation therapy. We compared treatment burden, (number of treatments, clinic visits, inpatient hospital days, and distance traveled) and response rates using Kruskal-Wallis and chi-squared tests. Recurrence-free survival and estimated charges were exploratory endpoints. RESULTS: There were 42 patients who met the inclusion criteria. As initial treatment, patients had surgery (n = 20), surgery with adjuvant (n = 6), systemic (n = 9), and intralesional therapy (n = 2). Surgery had the lowest treatment burden (median of 1 treatment, 3 clinic visits, and 0 inpatient days) while surgery with adjuvant systemic therapy had the highest burden (median of 13 treatments, 12 clinic visits, and 0 inpatient days). Systemic, intralesional, and radiation therapy were used more often for recurrent ITM. Travel distance (P = 0.88) and response rates did not statistically differ between the four options for first line therapy (P = 0.99). At a median follow-up time of 8.8 mo, 22 (52%) of the cohort required more than 1 therapy to manage recurrent or progressive disease and 14 (33%) progressed to distant disease. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of in-transit melanoma is associated with high burden of care and often requires multiple therapies, even with maximally effective first treatment choice. Factors evaluated in this study may be used to set expectations of treatment course for newly diagnosed patients and may aid in patients' decisions on therapy selection.

Implementation of melanoma guidelines in the multidisciplinary setting: A qualitative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Data suggest variation in utilization of completion lymph node dissection (CLND) and adjuvant systemic therapy (AT) for sentinel lymph node-positive melanoma. We aimed to explore how clinicians consider multidisciplinary treatment options. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews of surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and otolaryngologists to produce a thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants (n = 26) described melanoma care as inherently "multidisciplinary," noting the importance of conversations facilitated by shared clinic days or space. Despite believing that their practice mirrored other clinicians, participants revealed diverging perspectives on CLND and AT. Multidisciplinary care presented challenges for surveillance as surgeons expressed desire to retain ownership of patients but did not feel comfortable overseeing AT needs. Participants questioned the fidelity of nodal ultrasounds, noted redundancy in their roles, and described a "surveillance burden" for patients. CONCLUSION: Opportunities exist to improve multidisciplinary melanoma care through broader consensus of how to translate emerging data into patient care and delineating surveillance roles.

The efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade for melanoma in-transit with or without nodal metastases - A multicenter cohort study.

PURPOSE: Guidelines addressing melanoma in-transit metastasis (ITM) recommend immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) as a first-line treatment option, despite the fact that there are no efficacy data available from prospective trials for exclusively ITM disease. The study aims to analyze the outcome of patients with ITM treated with ICI based on data from a large cohort of patients treated at international referral clinics. METHODS: A multicenter retrospective cohort study of patients treated between January 2015 and December 2020 from Australia, Europe, and the USA, evaluating treatment with ICI for ITM with or without nodal involvement (AJCC8 N1c, N2c, and N3c) and without distant disease (M0). Treatment was with PD-1 inhibitor (nivolumab or pembrolizumab) and/or CTLA-4 inhibitor (ipilimumab). The response was evaluated according to the RECIST criteria modified for cutaneous lesions. RESULTS: A total of 287 patients from 21 institutions in eight countries were included. Immunotherapy was first-line treatment in 64 (22%) patients. PD-1 or CTLA-4 inhibitor monotherapy was given in 233 (81%) and 23 (8%) patients, respectively, while 31 (11%) received both in combination. The overall response rate was 56%, complete response (CR) rate was 36%, and progressive disease (PD) rate was 32%. Median PFS was ten months (95% CI 7.4-12.6 months) with a one-, two-, and five-year PFS rate of 48%, 33%, and 18%, respectively. Median MSS was not reached, and the one-, two-, and five-year MSS rates were 95%, 83%, and 71%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Systemic immunotherapy is an effective treatment for melanoma ITM. Future studies should evaluate the role of systemic immunotherapy in the context of multimodality therapy, including locoregional treatments such as surgery, intralesional therapy, and regional therapies.