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Purpose Increasing medical student (MS) interest in radiation oncology (RO) is important to meet the rising demand for radiation oncologists. Understanding the factors that drive MS to pursue RO is crucial. This study compares motivating factors between MS and RO residents to inform interventions to increase recruitment and sustained interest in the specialty. Methods Data from two similar studies investigating factors motivating MS and residents to pursue RO were analyzed. The first study surveyed Canadian RO residents to characterize enablers when applying for RO residency. The second study analyzed application essays from MS applying to an RO studentship. A mixed methods approach was used to compare themes ("career aspects," "prior exposure," and "personal experiences") between the datasets. Results Qualitative analysis demonstrated that both MS and residents identified "career aspects" as the most common theme facilitating interest in RO careers. "Multidisciplinary work" and "direct clinical contact and patient care" were prominent sub-themes. MS emphasized "serious illness and palliative care" and "advanced technology," while residents prioritized RO as a "rewarding career." "Prior exposure," particularly through shadowing/observerships, was more important for MS than residents who valued clinical experiences. Practical career considerations including "mentorship" and "career satisfaction and lifestyle" were significant motivators for residents. Conclusion MS value content-based aspects of RO and emphasize shadowing. In contrast, RO residents prioritize lifestyle-based considerations. These differences highlight the opportunity for intervention throughout medical training to sustain interest in RO and facilitate applications to RO residency programs., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Chai et al.)

The internet is a common source of health information for patients with cancer. Despite research surrounding the quality of online resources for individual types of cancer, these results may not necessarily be easily extrapolated to cancer resources as a whole. Thus, we aim to use a standardized tool to produce generalizable results by analyzing the quality of online resources for the most common cancers. Educational websites pertaining to breast, lung, prostate, and colorectal cancers were searched using multiple search engines. After screening against pre-specified inclusion criteria, the most visible 100 websites for each cancer were extracted for analysis. A validated tool was then used to assess their quality. Pooled results were evaluated using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the 400 analyzed websites, 43% were commercially affiliated, and these were significantly associated with greater use of biased language. Thirty percent of websites disclosed authorship, 47% cited at least one reliable source, and 43% were updated within the last 2 years. The average Flesch-Kincaid readability was determined to be at a grade 10.9 level, which is significantly more difficult than the recommended grade 6 level. Risk factors, symptoms, and detection were the most accurately covered topics. However, most websites did not cover prognosis. This study comprehensively examines the quality of online cancer resources for the four most common cancers. Our results could help guide the development of future resources, support patient education endeavors, and raise awareness among healthcare providers about the limitations of online cancer resources., (© 2021. American Association for Cancer Education.)

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) are non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinomas of the nasopharynx associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). When occurring outside of the nasopharynx, they are referred to as lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas (LELCs) and present the same morphology as NPC. LELC have been described in other head and neck regions such as the salivary glands and the soft palate. LELC can also occur in the oropharynx, are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and are typically negative for EBV. We herein present a unique case of a 78-year-old Chinese male with EBV-positive, HPV-negative NPC of the left tonsil. His presenting symptom was a left-sided lymph node. There was no evidence of nasopharyngeal lesion seen on physical examination, PET and MRI. The patient was treated with curative-intent external beam radiotherapy which delivered 70 Gy (Gy) to the gross tumour and lymph nodes, and 56 Gy electively to the ipsilateral neck using a volumetric modulated arc therapy technique. This is the first case of primary tonsil EBV-positive NPC described in the literature., (© 2020. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)