Head and Neck Cancers

As the treatment paradigm continues to evolve, nurses play a key role in educating patients, monitoring treatments, and watching for adverse effects.

Immunotherapy has changed the face of cancer treatment, but requires appropriate irAE management to reach full potential.

At a 5-year follow-up, the failure-free survival rate with capecitabine was 83.3% vs 72.2% with observation.

A presentation at the 2022 ESMO Congress found that xevinapant plus chemoradiotherapy decreased the risk of death by twice that of placebo for patients with unresectable, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The overall survival benefit associated with pembrolizumab for patients with head and neck cancer continued to be observed at a 4-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-048 trial.

Linda Laskowski-Jones, MS, APRN, ACNS-BC, CEN, NEA-BC, FAAN, discusses how oncology nurse leaders can help improve working environments for their staff.

Advanced practice providers are the future of survivorship care because of the tremendous value they offer to the practice and its patients.

Structured preceptorships promote competence, confidence, and job satisfaction in new oncology nurse practitioners.

Anne Delengowski, RN, MSN, AOCN, CCCTM, discusses the evolving role of the oncology nurse in clinical trial research.

Although oncology nurses are trained to show empathy and offer support, they lack the resources to adequately care for patients with acute mental health problems.

Mary Anderson, BSN, RN, OCN; and Christina Bach, MBE, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW, discuss approaches to help patients navigate financial toxicity and insurance coverage in the age of oral anticancer drugs.

Karen Hande, PhD(c), DNP, ANP-BC, CNE, FAANP, ANEF, explains the difference between some of the popular cannabinoid products that patients with cancer may be taking.

In the phase 1 SURPASS trial, 72% of patients with solid tumors developed any-grade cytokine release syndrome following an infusion of ADP-A2M4CD8. The median time to resolution was 5 days.

An ASCO expert panel conducted a comprehensive literature assessment to determine how diet, weight, and exercise play a role in defining patient outcomes.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from July 2022.

Gretchen McNally PhD, ANP-BC, AOCNP, discusses the potential impact advanced practice providers and nurses could have in the opioid pandemic if the correct educational opportunities were available.

Darcy Burbage, DNP, RN, AOCN, CBCN, discusses the top takeaways from the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting for oncology nurses.

Mandible reconstruction and maxilla reconstruction surgeries might be optimized with virtual surgical planning, according to an expert speaker at the 2022 Supportive Care in Cancer Annual Meeting.

Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD, BCPS, FAAHPM, and Amy A. Case, MD, FAAHPM, argue that buprenorphine should play a larger role in cancer-related pain management because of its unique pharmacology and consequent safety profile.

Avasopasem was associated with a significant reduction in severe oral mucositis in patients with locally nonmetastatic head and neck cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy.

Kellie Zeichner, RN, BSN, OCN, discusses the production of biosimilars, their approval and naming processes, and why immunogenicity is important when discussing these agents.

The phase 3 RATIONALE 309 trial highlighted the combined efficacy of tislelizumab and chemotherapy in the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer.

A post-hoc efficacy analysis of KEYNOTE-048 found that CPS scores were linked to immunotherapy efficacy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The FDA has approved a new biweekly dosing regimen of 500 mg/m2 as a 120-minute intravenous infusion for cetuximab (Erbitux) for patients with KRAS wild-type, EGFR-expressing colorectal cancer or squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Tipifarnib showed promising clinical activity in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic, HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease had progressed after prior therapy.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to tipifarnib for use in patients with recurrent or metastatic HRAS-mutated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with variant allele frequency of 20% or higher following progressive disease on platinum-based chemotherapy.

Nivolumab in combination with chemotherapy as a frontline treatment demonstrated a significant survival benefit in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, or esophageal adenocarcinoma.

On Friday, the FDA expanded the approval for Gardasil 9 for the prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16,18,31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, according to Merck, the manufacturer of the vaccine.

The FDA approved pembrolizumab to treat certain patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

The FDA approved pembrolizumab alone or in combination with 5-FU to treat recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.