Gynecologic Cancers

Some patients with advanced ovarian cancer may be better candidates for primary debulking surgery, while others should start chemotherapy.

The Food and Drug Administration approved bevacizumab-bvzr (Zirabev) – a biosimilar for bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer; unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic NSCLC; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and persistent, recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a supplemental biologics license application for niraparib (Zejula) for the treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Studies have shown that heated chemotherapy may benefit women with ovarian cancer, but is this the right treatment for everyone? One expert weighs in.

The use of oral contraceptives not only decreases a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer, but can also decrease the risk of dying from the disease, too, according to recent research.

Health care providers need to break the cycle of inappropriate symptom communication to help improve patients’ quality of life.

Chemotherapy-induced periphreal neuropathy can affect patients' daily living, and some individuals may be more prone to it than others.

Creating a way to analyze the postings of patients and caregivers seeking peer support can give doctors and researchers insights about how to help them.

Oncology nurses must discuss treatment options and adverse events with their patients who have ovarian cancer.

Sexual health is an important issue that nurses should discuss with their patients.

Here are the top 5 Oncology Nursing News stories for February 2019.

There are some adverse events that are common to all PARP inhibitors, and others that are specific to each drug.

Cervical cancer and precancers have decreased in recent years, thanks to the HPV vaccine.

The phase III AIM2CERV trial investigating axalimogene filolisbac (AXAL) in patients with cervical cancer has been placed on partial clinical hold by the FDA.

The presence of HPV-16 and -18 were associated with a higher risk of developing high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in women under the age of 30, study says.

The FDA has approved olaparib (Lynparza) as a maintenance treatment for patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic BRCA-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy, as approved by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic assay.

The PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab did not induce a statistically significant improvement in overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with platinum–resistant/refractory ovarian cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for olaparib (Lynparza) tablets for use as a maintenance therapy in patients with newly-diagnosed, BRCA-positive advanced ovarian cancer who achieved a complete or partial response to standard frontline platinum-based chemotherapy.

The PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) as frontline maintenance therapy in women with BRCA-positive advanced ovarian cancer, according to findings reported at the 2018 European Society of Medical Oncology Congress.

Ketamine, typically used to kickstart and maintain anesthesia use, could be an option for treating patients with ovarian cancer whose pain is difficult to treat.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil 9 (Human Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant) to expand its use in women and men aged 27 to 45 years.

Non-pharmacologic integrative medicine approaches such as aromatherapy and reflexology can dramatically reduce the pain and anxiety associated with cervical radiation therapy.

A new tool could change the surgical landscape of ovarian cancer treatment.

New guidelines issued by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend for women aged 30 to 65 years at average risk for cervical cancer to choose to receive a Pap smear alone every 3 years, screening with the high-risk human papillomavirus test alone, or cotesting every 5 years.

A recent survey of physicians revealed that 17% of doctors with personal experience with cancer were more likely than those without to act against established guidelines to recommend that low-risk women receive ovarian cancer screening.