Purpose: Recently, the Coalition for Physician Accountability Work Group on Medical Students in the Class of 2021 recommended limiting visiting medical student rotations, conducting virtual residency interviews, and delaying the standard application timeline owing to the ongoing corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These changes create both challenges and opportunities for medical students and radiation oncology residency programs. We conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to prepare for a virtual recruitment season, including a focus group of senior medical students seeking careers in oncology. Methods and Materials: A single 1.5-hour focus group was conducted with 10 third-and fourth-year medical students using Zoom videoconferencing software. Participants shared opinions relating to visibility of residency programs, virtual clerkship experiences, expectations for program websites, and remote interviews. The focus group recording was transcribed and analyzed independently by 3 authors. Participants' statements were abstracted into themes via inductive content analysis. Results: Inductive content analysis of the focus group transcript identified several potential challenges surrounding virtual recruitment, including learning the culture of a program and/or city, obtaining accurate information about training programs, and uncertainty surrounding the best way to present themselves during a virtual interview season. In the present environment, the focus group participants anticipate relying more on departmental websites and telecommunications because in-person interactions will be limited. In addition, students perceived that the educational yield of a virtual clerkship would be low, particularly if an in-person rotation had already been completed at another institution. Conclusions: With the COVID-19 crisis limiting visiting student rotations and programs transitioning to hosting remote interviews, we recommend programs focus resources toward portraying the culture of their program and city, accurately depicting program information, and offering virtual electives or virtual interaction to increase applicant exposure to residency program culture.

This is one of the first reports of adjuvant radiotherapy after surgical excision to improve local control in patients with JOF. Radiotherapy should be considered in patients for whom reexcision after a recurrence would result in unacceptable morbidity.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative stereotactic radiosurgery (postop SRS) is potentially complicated by difficulty defining the target volume and the risk of leptomeningeal seeding at the time of surgery. It is hypothesized that preop SRS may render cells less viable to disseminate in the leptomeningeal space. This retrospective study compares the leptomeningeal dissemination (LMD) rate for preop versus postop radiosurgery METHODS: We identified 140 patients with brain metastases who underwent resection and radiosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham including 91 postop patients (2005–2015) and 49 preop patients (2011–2018). The preop group included 19 patients enrolled in a phase I trial of preoperative radiosurgery (12–15 Gy) for tumors 2–6 cm in greatest diameter. In that study 15 Gy was found to be safe in the preop setting but further escalation was not attempted. An additional 30 patients received preop SRS off-study (median dose 15 Gy). The median postop dose was 16 Gy. LMD recurrence was defined as focal pachymeningeal or diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement of the brain, spinal cord, or cauda equina, dural enhancement beyond 5 mm from the index metastasis, subependymal enhancement, or enhancement of cranial nerves. This definition is not limited to carcinomatosis. All events were categorized and confirmed by at least two physicians. RESULTS: 40/140 (29%) patients developed new focal or diffuse LMD. Preop SRS was associated with a higher freedom from leptomeningeal recurrence (84% vs 60% at one year, p=0.021 Breslow, p=0.128 log-rank). Since later LMD may not be related to surgery, a second analysis censoring follow-up at one year was performed and confirmed this trend (p=0.008 Breslow, p=0.014 log-rank). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative SRS is associated with a reduction in the risk of LMD compared to postop SRS. Focal pachymeningeal dissemination may not always be recognized as related to surgery. A randomized trial of preop vs postop SRS is warranted.

BACKGROUND: Current standard of care (SOC) management of the brain differs between non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) & small cell lung cancer (SCLC). For SCLC, WBRT is considered SOC, even for solitary metastasis. In the setting of no-known metastases, prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is considered SOC. SRS is occasionally utilized in SCLC, e.g. in setting of limited metastasis after WBRT/PCI, or limited metastasis after excellent systemic response to extracranial therapy, or if patient declines WBRT. In this study, we sought to understand more about the nature and outcomes of patients with SCLC who received intracranial SRS at our institution. METHODS: We reviewed radiosurgery treatments from 2005 thru 2019 for patients with SCLC who received SRS. Variables included were: time interval between diagnosis/SRS and death, prior WBRT/ PCI, number of targets, performance status, modality (GK or linac), prior surgery, and available follow-up. RESULTS: We identified 92 SRS treatments among 74 patients. 30 received upfront SRS, the remainder as post-WBRT/PCI salvage. Median survival after initial diagnosis was 22.0 months (min = 6.6, max 55.4). Median survival after first SRS was 6.1 months (min = 0.5, max = 40.4). Median recorded KPS was 75.6. Mean number of mets treated was 3.4 (min = 1, max = 12). Prescription dose range was 12 to 20Gy in single fraction, and 25 to 30Gy in five fraction treatment. 53 treatments were performed on Gamma Knife, 37 with linear accelerator. Four patients were treated post-operatively, one patient was treated pre-operatively. CONCLUSIONS: Survival in our cohort of SCLC patients receiving intracranial SRS compared favorably with historical SCLC controls (8-13mo after dx). Future work will seek to clarify whether there is a difference in brain metastasis velocity between patients treated with upfront PCI/WBRT or SRS, and also seek to address the minimum necessary dose to control SCLC metastases.