News

Here are the top 5 Oncology Nursing News stories for August 2018.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted priority review to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adults and children with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare skin cancer.

The FDA launched a pilot program designed to advance innovative clinical trial designs.

As the cost of cancer therapies continues to increase, the cancer community is looking to biosimilars as a potential alternative for treatment; however, experts wonder if factors besides cost need to be taken in to consideration.

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.

This year, the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC) is collaborating with SHARE Cancer Support, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) and Tell Every Amazing Lady (T.E.A.L.®) on a national social media campaign featuring the voices of real people.

The Foundation for Women’s Cancer Continues the Fight to end gynecologic cancer one step at a time; race set for Nov. 4, 2018 in Washington, DC.

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and the EGFR Resisters, a patient-driven community of people living with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positive lung cancer and their loved ones, are working together to raise funds and increase awareness of projects that benefit the EGFR community.

The trial that led to national screening guidelines—which recommend screening based on age and smoking history—did not include fair representation from all racial/ethnic groups.

Broad-based genomic sequencing, while useful in identifying tumor mutations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), may not improve survival outcomes when compared to routine genomic testing.

While patients may feel a sense of urgency in making a treatment decision, it’s important for patients to assess their own feelings about their goals for treatment.

Attempting to learn and process large amounts of complex information after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can leave anyone feeling lost. So where should you turn? Start with Patient Central.

Getting organized can help patients and their loved ones take control and better understand their options after a cancer diagnosis.

Adverse events (AEs) associated with brentuximab vedotin (BV; Adcetris) - used to treat hematological malignancies - may be serious, and nurses need to understand what they are, monitor for them, and treat them promptly.

Hundreds of oncology professionals will gather in Phoenix, Arizona, to share best practices and creative approaches that address the most pressing issues facing cancer programs in communities around the country.

The FDA has approved the kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for use in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) for the treatment of patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia, a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Patients who report higher satisfaction with their physicians’ communication with them also were more likely to receive more efficient care with fewer office visits and better health outcomes at lower costs.

African-American and Caucasian patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) demonstrated similar overall survival (OS) rates, according to study results presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The FDA has granted a priority review to the immunostimulatory monoclonal antibody elotuzumab (Empliciti) for use in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and low-dose dexamethasone (EPd) to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) who have received 2 or more prior therapies, including lenalidomide (Revlimid) and a proteasome inhibitor.

A year after the first CAR T-cell therapy was approved to treat pediatric patients with relapsed and/or refractory CD19-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), researchers have issued guidelines to help healthcare professionals recognize and treat the associated adverse events (AEs) from this treatment.

CURE Media Group, the nation’s leading digital and print media enterprise dedicated to patients and survivors of cancer, welcomes The Biden Cancer Initiative to the Strategic Alliance Partnership (SAP) program.

The FDA has granted a full approval to the combination use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus standard chemotherapy in the first-line setting for patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Canadian researchers recently created the Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) intervention for patients with advanced cancer who had a life expectancy of at least 1 year to address the need for supportive psychotherapy interventions that are individualized to the patient, brief, and easy to implement.

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.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose disease has progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy and 1 other line of therapy.

Enfortumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate, showed promise as a post-immunotherapy treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer, according to Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental new drug application for the multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib (Lenvima) for first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Late effects from treatment of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, such as cognitive impairment and physical performance, may hinder full functional and social independence among adult survivors, according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.