The Group-basEd Telehealth behavioral WEight Loss Program Among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot and Feasibility Study.

Objective: Obesity is related to the recurrence of breast cancer. In-person groups or individual telephone counseling currently comprise the behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs tested for cancer survivors. Group support via telehealth may be convenient and provide support from fellow survivors, but feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy testing are needed.

Association Between Delayed/Forgone Medical Care and Resource Utilization Among Women with Breast Cancer in the United States.

Background: Although high treatment costs of breast cancer care are well documented, the relationship between delayed/forgone (D/F) care and resource utilization among patients with breast cancer is unknown. This study sought to investigate the relationship between D/F care, resource use, and healthcare expenditures among patients with breast cancer.

Methods: Data on adult female patients with breast cancer were obtained from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to assess resource utilization and expenditures in the United States from 2007 to 2017.

Examining inequities associated with incarceration among breast cancer patients.

Introduction: Breast cancer treatment patterns and quality of care among patients experiencing incarceration are underexplored. This study examined associations between incarceration and breast cancer disease and treatment characteristics.

Methods: This retrospective analysis was conducted at a tertiary center in the Southeastern United States that serves as the state's safety-net hospital and primary referral site for the state's prisons.

Disparities in the Use of Preoperative Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging After Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

Purpose: Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after breast cancer diagnosis is increasingly used to improve locoregional staging, particularly among women with dense breasts, extensive ductal carcinoma in situ, and lobular histology. The goals of this study were to (1) assess whether use of preoperative MRI varies by race and insurance type; and (2) determine whether preoperative MRI is associated with downstream surgical management.

Materials And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of women with stage 0-III breast cancer who were treated with surgical resection within our academic health system (2016-2019).

Guideline-Concordant Surgical Care for Lobular Versus Ductal Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Quality of surgical care is understudied for lobular inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), which is less common, more chemotherapy-resistant, and more mammographically occult than ductal IBC. We compared guideline-concordant surgery (modified radical mastectomy [MRM] without immediate reconstruction following chemotherapy) for lobular versus ductal IBC.

Methods:  Female individuals with cT4dM0 lobular and ductal IBC were identified in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) from 2010-2019.

Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Diversity Among Academic Surgical Leaders in the US.

Importance: Surgical department chairs remain conspicuously nondiverse despite the recognized importance of diverse physician workforces. However, the extent of diversity among non-chair leadership remains underexplored.

Objective: To evaluate racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of surgical department chairs, vice chairs (VCs), and division chiefs (DCs) in the US.

Temporal Trends and Factors Associated with Receipt of Post-mastectomy Radiation After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Women with cT3 Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Given the potential impact of increasingly effective neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) recommendations, we examined temporal trends in post-NACT PMRT for cT3 breast cancer.

Methods: We identified women ≥ 18 years in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) diagnosed 2004-2019 with cT3N0-1M0 breast cancer treated with chemotherapy and mastectomy. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between pathologic NACT response [complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or no response (NR); or disease progression (DP)] and PMRT and between PMRT and overall survival (OS), respectively.

Survey Study of Clerkship Curriculum on Learner's Choice to Pursue Surgery: Positive Impact of Extracurricular Opportunities.

Objective: Prior studies have focused on the role of the learning environment on students' decisions to pursue surgery, but few have analyzed the impact of the clerkship curriculum. This study assessed surgical clerkship curricula across United States (US) medical schools and their impact on students' likelihood of pursuing a surgical residency.

Design: A cross-sectional survey was developed to assess surgery clerkship characteristics.

At the Intersection of Intersectionality: Race and Gender Diversity Among Surgical Faculty and Trainees.

Objective: To compare the representation of intersectional (ie, racial/ethnic and gender) identities among surgical faculty versus medical students.

Background: Health disparities are pervasive in medicine, but diverse physicians may help the medical profession achieve health equity.

Methods: Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges for 140 programs (2011/2012-2019/2020) were analyzed for students and full-time surgical faculty.

Leadership and Impostor Syndrome in Surgery.

Background: Impostor syndrome is an internalized sense of incompetence and not belonging. We examined associations between impostor syndrome and holding leadership positions in medicine.

Study Design: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to US physicians from June 2021 to December 2021 through medical schools and professional organizations.

Breast cancer among African American and sub-Saharan African women: a tale of global inequities.

Breast Cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide with significant global disparities, particularly disadvantaging women of African Ancestry. Though the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa are seemingly very different settings, there are many important parallels between the experience of getting diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in these two geographic regions for women of African ancestry. This commentary explores the parallels and differences and proposes an agenda to move forward to narrow the disparities gaps for some of the worlds most vulnerable women.

The Landmark Series-Addressing Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening: New Recommendations for Black Women.

Randomized, clinical trials have established the efficacy of screening mammography in improving survival from breast cancer for women through detection of early, asymptomatic disease. However, disparities in survival rates between black women and women from other racial and ethnic groups following breast cancer diagnosis persist. Various professional groups have different, somewhat conflicting, guidelines with regards to recommended age for commencing screening as well as recommended frequency of screening exams, but the trials upon which these recommendations are based were not specifically designed to examine benefit among black women.

Disparities in Primary Breast Cancer Stage at Presentation Among Hispanic Subgroups.

Background: Although the United States (US) Hispanic population consists of diverse communities, prior breast cancer studies often analyze this group in aggregate. Our aim was to identify differences in breast cancer stage at presentation in the US population, with a particular focus on Hispanic subgroups.

Methods: Data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) from 2004 to 2017 were used to select women with primary breast cancer; individuals were disaggregated by racial and ethnic subgroup and Hispanic country of origin.