JACC: CardioOncology

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1933–2020 (1)

As we embark on our second year of JACC: CardioOncology, my vision remains steadfast. We are driven to be the essential scientific resource for our community, wholly committed to advancing and positively impacting clinical care and innovating science. In this sixth Editor’s Page, I describe in greater detail the various content avenues we have to accomplish this goal, in the hopes that this will serve as a guide to our readership and our authors.

Original Research

Original Research will continue to serve as the strong foundation for JACC: CardioOncology. These will continue to originate from clinical, translational, and basic science research domains. As our Board evaluates these important pieces, the following questions will continue to be prioritized: Are the findings valid? Is the methodology rigorously executed in collaboration with the necessary expertise? Is the topic of clinical importance and does this work fulfill a knowledge gap for our community? Are the conclusions accurate and not overstated, and limitations appropriately acknowledged? How does this work provide incremental value, potentially impact patient care, and ultimately advance our field?

State-of-the-Art Reviews and Primers

Seminal reviews also will continue to serve as an important backbone for JACC: CardioOncology. State-of-the-Art Reviews are authoritative, critical appraisals of the literature that are comprehensive, yet focused. Our field needs data-driven literature that is reflective of our current understanding of the field to inform and educate our community. References must be current, and ideally within the prior 5 years, and no more than 10 years, without a specific rationale. Primers similarly need to be evidence based, but they are distinct from State-of-the-Art Reviews in that Primers often focus on a topic in which there are less well-established data specific to cardio-oncology. Short-form Primers, which are 2,000 words or less, are designed to be very concise summaries of a focused topic.

How-Tos

This new series, which is launching in our November 2020 issue, takes the format of a short-form Primer. How-Tos are often invited, representing an experts’ approach to the diagnosis, management, and treatment of common scenarios in the cardiovascular care of our cancer patients and survivors, using all available evidence to guide decision making. These will often be case-based papers, as a platform to promote learning, and presented in a stepwise manner. The goal is to provide very practical guidance to our readers in both the “101” and the “201” levels of cardio-oncology clinical care, informing on both the art and the science of evidence-based medicine.

Research Letters

Research Letters are concisely presented original investigations of 1,000 words or less. These are similarly peer reviewed and held to the same evaluation metrics as our original investigations. However, they are very focused, and have relatively more straightforward methodologic and analytic approaches. Although no less impactful than our original investigations, they may, in some instances, be more hypothesis generating.

Clinical Case Challenges

These are brief, evidence-based descriptions of unique cases that thoughtfully illustrate diagnostic and management dilemmas that we, as clinicians, face in the care for our patients. These should be a resource to the practicing clinician to help inform and provide the available evidence to support various approaches to patient care, particularly in challenging scenarios in which there are little data. These should be incremental to the existent literature. In rare instances, we may also publish “101”-level cases (2), which are foundational to cardio-oncology clinical care and are of such importance that every clinician needs to be able to understand.

Viewpoints

These are succinct pieces that are meant to provide a commentary on an issue that is important to our community. The topics should be timely and highly relevant but need not be controversial. They are meant to serve as an impactful perspective on a current topic of great interest to our readership (3,4). In general, newly unpublished data should not be the sole focus of the piece. Viewpoints from patients are also invited, as our patients drive and motivate the work that we do.

International Perspectives

One of the goals of JACC: CardioOncology is to grow our cardio-oncology community globally. There are unique challenges that each country and each institution faces, as we continue to build cardio-oncology clinical and research programs. By sharing these challenges through our International Perspectives (5, 6, 7, 8), we can learn from each other and be stronger together. Sharing both the successes and the struggles we each face can only serve to make us more unified.

Additional Strategies to Promote Learning

We have also been using multimedia strategies to promote learning. Every original research publication is now accompanied by a podcast, often presented by members of the Editorial Board, but also by members of our broader community, including our Editorialists. We have hosted live Journal Clubs, as well as virtual Case Presentations, and will continue to do so to serve you, the community, with tireless devotion.

Active Listening

Finally, as JACC: CardioOncology continues to grow, we look to all of you to learn what you find most impactful and important. Please feel free to send your feedback and suggestions to jaccco@acc.org. I seek to be an active listener to our community, heeding the sagacious advice of many inspiring leaders.