Letters
Additional Contributions: We thank Charles H. Yoon, MD, PhD, at the Department of Surgery of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Mandeep S. Saund, MD, at the Department of Surgery of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, and Harvard Medical School for their advice on and contributions to this work. There was no compensation awarded to these additional contributors. 1. Haslam JB, Cavanaugh PJ, Stroup SL. Radiation therapy in the treatment of irresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Cancer. 1973;32(6):1341-1345. 2. Moertel CG, Frytak S, Hahn RG, et al. Therapy of locally unresectable pancreatic carcinoma: a randomized comparison of high dose (6000 rads) radiation alone, moderate dose radiation (4000 rads + 5-fluorouracil), and high dose radiation + 5-fluorouracil: the Gastrointestinal Tumor Study Group. Cancer. 1981;48(8):1705-1710. 3. Chauffert B, Mornex F, Bonnetain F, et al. Phase III trial comparing intensive induction chemoradiotherapy (60 Gy, infusional 5-FU and intermittent cisplatin) followed by maintenance gemcitabine with gemcitabine alone for locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer: definitive results of the 2000-01 FFCD/SFRO study. Ann Oncol. 2008;19(9):1592-1599. 4. Loehrer PJ Sr, Feng Y, Cardenes H, et al. Gemcitabine alone vs gemcitabine plus radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group trial. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(31):4105-4112.
COMMENT & RESPONSE
Clarification of the Goals of the National Institutes of Health Symposium on Bariatric Surgery Outcomes To the Editor In their commentary regarding our report at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) symposium on long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery,1 Finks and Dimick2 state that this recent meeting was an updated NIH consensus panel and expressed concern that the report did not make explicit recommendations regarding treatment and coverage decisions. We would like to clarify that this symposium was not an NIH Consensus Development Conference, which refers to a specific program in which an independent panel, meeting certain criteria, generated evidence-based consensus statements. In 2013, the NIH announced that it had retired the Consensus Development Program (http://consensus.nih.gov/). The goal of the recent NIH symposium was not to develop consensus recommendations on treatment or coverage decisions but, rather, to summarize the current state of knowledge on long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery and to identify research gaps and opportunities in order to identify priorities for future research. In response to the symposium’s presentations and interactive discussions, held both
jamasurgery.com
during and after this workshop with NIH scientific staff, the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council, and the research community, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently released several funding opportunity announcements to accelerate research on bariatric surgery and its impact on health. These funding announcements can be accessed at http://obesityresearch.nih.gov/funding/funding .aspx. By encouraging and supporting high-quality research in areas where important knowledge gaps exist, the NIH’s goal is to provide the evidence base for health care professionals, patients, payors, and policy makers to make informed decisions that improve patient care. Anita P. Courcoulas, MD, MPH Susan Z. Yanovski, MD Mary Horlick, MD Author Affiliations: Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Courcoulas); Office of Obesity Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Yanovski); Obesity and Eating Disorders Program, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Yanovski); Clinical Bariatric Surgery Program, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Horlick). Corresponding Author: Anita P. Courcoulas MD, MPH, Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3380 Blvd of the Allies, Ste 390, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (courcoulasap@upmc .edu). Published Online: January 28, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.3515. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported. 1. Courcoulas AP, Yanovski SZ, Bonds D, et al. Long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery: a National Institutes of Health symposium [published online October 1, 2014]. JAMA Surgery. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.2440. 2. Finks JF, Dimick JB. An updated National Institutes of Health consensus panel on bariatric surgery [published online October 1, 2014]. JAMA Surg. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.2443.
CORRECTION Incorrect Academic Degree: In the Original Investigation titled “Increasing Disparities in the Age-Related Incidences of Colon and Rectal Cancers in the United States, 1975-2010” published in the January issue of JAMA Surgery (2015;150[1]: 17-22), an incorrect academic degree was listed in the author byline. Scott B. Cantor’s degree should have been listed as PhD. This article was corrected online.
(Reprinted) JAMA Surgery March 2015 Volume 150, Number 3
Copyright 2015 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
Downloaded From: http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/ by a NCSU Hunt Library User on 05/12/2015
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Additional Contributions: We thank Charles H. Yoon, MD, PhD, at the Department of Surgery of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Mandeep S. Saund, MD, at the Department of Surgery of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, and Harvard Medical School for their advice on and contributions to this work. There was no compensation awarded to these additional contributors. 1. Haslam JB, Cavanaugh PJ, Stroup SL. Radiation therapy in the treatment of irresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Cancer. 1973;32(6):1341-1345. 2. Moertel CG, Frytak S, Hahn RG, et al. Therapy of locally unresectable pancreatic carcinoma: a randomized comparison of high dose (6000 rads) radiation alone, moderate dose radiation (4000 rads + 5-fluorouracil), and high dose radiation + 5-fluorouracil: the Gastrointestinal Tumor Study Group. Cancer. 1981;48(8):1705-1710. 3. Chauffert B, Mornex F, Bonnetain F, et al. Phase III trial comparing intensive induction chemoradiotherapy (60 Gy, infusional 5-FU and intermittent cisplatin) followed by maintenance gemcitabine with gemcitabine alone for locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer: definitive results of the 2000-01 FFCD/SFRO study. Ann Oncol. 2008;19(9):1592-1599. 4. Loehrer PJ Sr, Feng Y, Cardenes H, et al. Gemcitabine alone vs gemcitabine plus radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group trial. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(31):4105-4112.
COMMENT & RESPONSE
Clarification of the Goals of the National Institutes of Health Symposium on Bariatric Surgery Outcomes To the Editor In their commentary regarding our report at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) symposium on long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery,1 Finks and Dimick2 state that this recent meeting was an updated NIH consensus panel and expressed concern that the report did not make explicit recommendations regarding treatment and coverage decisions. We would like to clarify that this symposium was not an NIH Consensus Development Conference, which refers to a specific program in which an independent panel, meeting certain criteria, generated evidence-based consensus statements. In 2013, the NIH announced that it had retired the Consensus Development Program (http://consensus.nih.gov/). The goal of the recent NIH symposium was not to develop consensus recommendations on treatment or coverage decisions but, rather, to summarize the current state of knowledge on long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery and to identify research gaps and opportunities in order to identify priorities for future research. In response to the symposium’s presentations and interactive discussions, held both
jamasurgery.com
during and after this workshop with NIH scientific staff, the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council, and the research community, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently released several funding opportunity announcements to accelerate research on bariatric surgery and its impact on health. These funding announcements can be accessed at http://obesityresearch.nih.gov/funding/funding .aspx. By encouraging and supporting high-quality research in areas where important knowledge gaps exist, the NIH’s goal is to provide the evidence base for health care professionals, patients, payors, and policy makers to make informed decisions that improve patient care. Anita P. Courcoulas, MD, MPH Susan Z. Yanovski, MD Mary Horlick, MD Author Affiliations: Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Courcoulas); Office of Obesity Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Yanovski); Obesity and Eating Disorders Program, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Yanovski); Clinical Bariatric Surgery Program, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland (Horlick). Corresponding Author: Anita P. Courcoulas MD, MPH, Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3380 Blvd of the Allies, Ste 390, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (courcoulasap@upmc .edu). Published Online: January 28, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.3515. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported. 1. Courcoulas AP, Yanovski SZ, Bonds D, et al. Long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery: a National Institutes of Health symposium [published online October 1, 2014]. JAMA Surgery. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.2440. 2. Finks JF, Dimick JB. An updated National Institutes of Health consensus panel on bariatric surgery [published online October 1, 2014]. JAMA Surg. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.2443.
CORRECTION Incorrect Academic Degree: In the Original Investigation titled “Increasing Disparities in the Age-Related Incidences of Colon and Rectal Cancers in the United States, 1975-2010” published in the January issue of JAMA Surgery (2015;150[1]: 17-22), an incorrect academic degree was listed in the author byline. Scott B. Cantor’s degree should have been listed as PhD. This article was corrected online.
(Reprinted) JAMA Surgery March 2015 Volume 150, Number 3
Copyright 2015 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
Downloaded From: http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/ by a NCSU Hunt Library User on 05/12/2015
277
