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PURPOSE The landscape of the profession of academic radiation oncology is constantly changing. We sought to determine the demographic makeup of the current academic radiation oncology workforce. MATERIALS AND METHODS Internet web site searches of the 51 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCCs) were conducted in September 2019. The Scopus database was subsequently searched in December 2019 to ascertain the h-index for each radiation oncologist. Geographic location was economically stratified (New York, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Washington DC) as previously reported. Race and binary sex were attributed by authors using publicly available information. Univariate analysis involved the chi-square test; a multivariable model considered several factors including rank and sex. RESULTS Of 993 radiation oncologists at CCCs, 53.6% are junior faculty, 24.8% associate professors, and 21.7% full professors. The average radiation oncologist at a CCC has been a physician for 19.7 (standard deviation 5 11.3) years; 4.7% (47/993) are under-represented minorities. 24.6% of men and 15.5% of women were full professors, a statistically significant difference (P 5 .001). Of the 51 department chairs, 11.8% are women and 5.6% are under-represented minorities. There are fewer female than male program directors in the most economically stratified locations (P 5 .02). The mean h-index for all faculty is 17.6 (standard deviation 5 16.9), and significantly differs between junior faculty (8.21), associate professors (18.46), and full professors (40.05; P, .0001). It also differs between men (19.35) and women (14.11). On multivariable analysis, sex, academic rank, and a secondary advanced degree were independently significant correlates of h-index. CONCLUSION Among academic radiation oncologists at CCCs, under 5% are under-represented minorities, men are significantly over-represented among senior faculty, and women have significantly lower h-indices than men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1997 and 1999, three modern postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMXRT) trials were published. These trials showed a significant benefit with respect to local control and survival in women who received adjuvant radiation after mastectomy. Despite two decades of follow-up, reanalyses, meta-analyses and vigorous and often acrimonious debate, questions about the benefit of PMXRT in women with one to three positive lymph nodes (LNs) remain unanswered for many. This persistent debate has limited the use of PMXRT. A treatment concept certain to be as vigorously debated as that of PMXRT is that of partial breast irradiation (PBI). However, unlike PMXRT, the acceptance of PBI, by community physicians, has been nothing short of meteoric and represents the first major shift in the local therapy paradigm in more than 10 years. Herein, information will be presented that will suggest we are nearing the end of one debate-PMXRT in patients with one to three positive LNs-and beginning another-appropriateness of PBI.