Kristie L. Kahl

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable has created a special toolkit to help physicians successfully determine and evaluate family history to detect colorectal cancer at an earlier age.

One drug may have discovered a path to overcome a particularly difficult hurdle in brain cancer treatment.

BLU-667 appeared to be well-tolerated and had broad clinical benefit among patients with advanced, RET-altered solid tumors who progressed on prior therapies, according to study findings from a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2018.

Systematic exposure to bright morning light could help patients with cancer and survivors sleep better and experience less fatigue.

The Pivot Nurse in Oncology (PNO) role appears to make a substantial difference in care for patients being treated for advanced lung cancer, according to a study presented at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2018.

While the new FDA approval of 4-week dosing adds more flexibility in scheduling, it reduces the number of times patients would be monitored in person for adverse effects (AEs), so nurses need to be alert to and educated about potential AEs.

Fear of cancer recurrence is considered one of the most prominent concerns for patients following a cancer diagnosis – a concern nurses can address when creating optimal survivorship care.

A non-profit organization has dedicated its efforts to raise awareness around the conversations healthcare teams should be having with patients about clinic trial enrollment.

Radiotherapy treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma may raise the risk of certain breast cancer subtypes, a study of data on women survivors from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries revealed.

It is important for nurses to help patients implement physical interventions that are feasible and acceptable for those with colorectal cancer diagnoses.

As part of a multidisciplinary team, nurses often reference guidelines to assist in treatment decisions for patients with cancer. Now, they also have guidance on how to treat individuals that comprise an underserved population of patients: those living with HIV and cancer.

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), also known as hot chemotherapy bath, has been shown to improve survival rates by 10%, according to study results recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Genetic changes that occur during DNA cloning in people with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer may affect the efficacy of targeted and immunologic therapies. Repeated testing may be necessary to ensure that targeted treatments keep up with the changes in DNA.

In a promising development in brain cancer research, injectable viruses have been found to be able to breach the blood-brain barrier and deliver immunotherapy to tumors.

Lymph node surgery may be necessary to stop the spread of cancer, but it may cause people to have a limited range of motion. In addition to educating people about possible adverse effects, a new study suggests that nurses should also be explaining the benefits of physical therapy.

Recognizing and understanding how to manage side effects related to immunotherapy treatements is key for nurses. To educate healthcare teams on immunotherapy-related toxicities, The National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Clinical Oncology issued new guidelines.

Screening for ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women who are not known to have a high-risk hereditary cancer syndrome has no benefit and may lead to harm due to false positives, according to a new review conducted by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

The LivingWith app helps patients connect with a close circle of contacts and enables them to ask for help with daily tasks, track their symptoms, and collect important documents and information from appointments.

The Canines and Childhood Cancer Study – the first and largest randomized, controlled clinical trial to measure the effects of animal-assisted therapy in the field of pediatric oncology – recently showed significant benefits to families in a time of great need.

Patients whose cancers have metastasized to the brain or central nervous system are often excluded from clinical trials, but now, new guidelines may help researchers identify appropriate clinical trials in which these people may be included.

Changes in cognitive function, or chemobrain, are common among patients who survive breast cancer. However, limited efforts have been put in to understanding or managing these cognitive changes in survivors. Now, there is a web site that can help with just that.

Exercise plays an important role in lymphoma survivorship, a recent study shows.

The common skin cream fluorouacil 5%, when applied for 2 to 4 weeks, has been shown to reduce the risk for squamous cell carcinoma for up to a year, according to a study published in JAMA Dermatology.

Oral mucositis is a common, sometimes debilitating side effect of cancer treatment. There is hope, however, in the form of a drug now in development, that could significantly treat and reduce it.

The oldest known cases of multiple myeloma and breast cancer have been discovered in two Egyptian mummies which were found in the pharaonic necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt.

The FDA approved a new first-line treatment combination for patients with newly diagnosed low-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

Only a quarter of patients who have brain cancer enroll in hospice care with enough time to benefit from the comfort, symptom management and emotional support it can provide, a new study shows.

Patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer before the age of 40 appear to be at the highest risk for age-related diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, compared with their age-matched counterparts.

Using oral rivaroxaban (Xarelto) to treat patients with cancer reduced venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence in a select-d trial.

A novel approach to the treatment of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) produced durable results in a phase II trial.