Gynecologic Cancers

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

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.

The addition of tumor treating fields (TTF), an antimitotic therapy that delivers continuous low-intensity electrical fields to the tumor region, to weekly paclitaxel (Taxol) appeared safe in the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

A recent review of data found that 79% of patients with ovarian cancer felt uncomfortable raising psychological and emotional concerns during their consultations.

The FDA has granted a second breakthrough therapy designation to the combination use of lenvatinib (Lenvima) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with advanced and/or metastatic non–microsatellite instability high (MSI-H)/proficient mismatch repair endometrial carcinoma who have progressed after ≥1 prior systemic therapy.

Treatment with niraparib (Zejula) demonstrated durable responses among women with relapsed or refractory ovarian cancer regardless of BRCA mutation, study shows.

Clinicians at Rush University Medical Center identified the possibility that folate deficiency could be an adverse event related to olaparib (Lynparza) women take for relapsed ovarian cancer, and recommend further studies.

CE lesson worth 1 contact hour that is intended to advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with cancer.

The FDA has approved bevacizumab (Avastin) for use in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, followed by bevacizumab monotherapy, for the treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer following initial surgical resection.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with advanced, PD-L1–positive cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy.

When a woman learns she carries a BRCA gene mutation—and thus, in her lifetime, faces an 87% risk of developing breast cancer and a 63% risk of getting ovarian cancer—she has a difficult decision-making process ahead of her. One nurse created an easy-to-understand guide that explains all options and their pros and cons, for use by oncology nurses working with BRCA mutation carriers who do not have cancer—previvors.

As the Food and Drug Administration continues to approve additional indications for olaparib (Lynparza), health care providers and caregivers should be aware of the potential adverse effects (AEs) associated with treatment.