Advancing Cultural Competency and Equity in Surgical Specialties (ACCESS): A Model for a Combined Resident and Faculty DEI Initiative.

Background: Committees dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are not commonplace within departments of surgery. Even rarer are joint initiatives for residents and faculty. We aim to describe the creation of a collaborative committee within a department of surgery to better foster and advance the ideals of DEI.

Trends in access to minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancers.

Background: Minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy (MIPD), including robotic (RPD) and laparoscopy (LPD), is becoming more frequently employed in the management of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), though the majority of operations are still performed via open approach (OPD). Access to technologic advances often neglect the underserved. Whether disparities in access to MIPD exist, remain unclear.

The Effect of Lumpectomy and Cavity Shave Margin Status on Recurrence and Survival in Breast-Conserving Surgery.

Background/objective: Cavity shave margins (CSMs) decrease rate of positive margins and need for re-excision. Recurrence data following breast-conserving surgery (BCS) are not always available in large cancer registries. We sought to define our recurrence and survival data in BCS with routine excision of CSMs.

Patterns of palliative care consultation among patients with brain metastasis: an opportunity for radiation oncologists to facilitate earlier referral.

Background: Early palliative care (PC) physician involvement alongside standard oncologic care has been recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines for all advanced cancer patients, although adherence to these guidelines is variable. Radiation oncologists (ROs) could help facilitate early PC referral for patients treated with palliative radiation, particularly those with brain metastasis (BRM), and the aim of this study was to evaluate the circumstances of PC referral at our institution to better understand the multidisciplinary approaches to facilitate it.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with BRM from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from 2012 to 2018 whose primary RO and MO were at our institution were reviewed.

Protein phosphatase 2A inhibition enhances radiation sensitivity and reduces tumor growth in chordoma.

Background: Standard therapy for chordoma consists of surgical resection followed by high-dose irradiation. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine phosphatase involved in signal transduction, cell cycle progression, cell differentiation, and DNA repair. LB100 is a small-molecule inhibitor of PP2A designed to sensitize cancer cells to DNA damage from irradiation and chemotherapy.

LB-100, a novel Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) inhibitor, sensitizes malignant meningioma cells to the therapeutic effects of radiation.

Atypical and anaplastic meningiomas (AAM) represent 20% of all meningiomas. They are associated with poor outcomes due to their tendency to recur. While surgery and radiation (RT) are first line therapy, no effective systemic medical treatment has been identified.

Hypoxia in the glioblastoma microenvironment: shaping the phenotype of cancer stem-like cells.

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumor. Cellular heterogeneity is a characteristic feature of the disease and contributes to the difficulty in formulating effective therapies. Glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) have been identified as a subpopulation of tumor cells that are thought to be largely responsible for resistance to treatment.