News

Melanoma has long been associated with fair skin and a history of sunburns, however, one study shows that overall survival of melanoma in non-white patients is significantly lower than that of white patients.

Having cancer is terrifying. Period. Often, well-intended doctors find themselves unable to mitigate this panic.

An extended-release injection formulation of granisetron (Sustol) has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with other antiemetic therapies for the prevention of CINV, according to the manufacturer of the treatment, Heron Therapeutics.

Patients with cancer who have Medicaid coverage or who are uninsured are more likely to be diagnosed later and receive improper treatment for cancer, according to two recent studies, and these factors can have an impact on their survival.

While primary cytoreductive surgery followed by chemotherapy is the standard of care for newly diagnosed women with advanced ovarian cancer, newly issued practice guidelines suggest that some patients may benefit more from first-line neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and interval cytoreduction.

A new study has found that overall survival is significantly worse for people of color who are diagnosed with melanoma, even though whites are diagnosed with this deadliest form of skin cancer at a higher rate.

The immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has been granted an accelerated approval from the FDA for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) whose disease progresses after platinum-based chemotherapy.

When I was diagnosed over six years ago with stage IV anal cancer I loved my job. Very quickly, my work and career took a back seat in my life. But ten months later there I was easing myself back into my job.

What do patients think about being tested for many genes that may impact their hereditary risk for breast or ovarian cancer, beyond the well-known BRCA mutations?

The health benefits of yoga are many, but in the oncology setting, studies of the approach have focused primarily on women with breast cancer. However, a small, first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is exploring how yoga may also improve treatment-related symptoms in men who are undergoing radiotherapy for their prostate cancer. And the results, thus far, are promising.

A study involving women with a BRCA mutation who had risk-reducing surgery to lower their risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer found that many of these individuals have surgical procedures such as oophorectomy or mastectomy without a full understanding of how they will affect their sexuality and other aspects of their lives.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) released the star ratings on its Hospital Compare website on July 27, 2016. The goal of the site is to enable healthcare consumers to locate information on hospital quality, conduct side-by-side comparisons of hospitals, and review the data on quality presented.

Caregivers of patients with advanced cancer often put their own needs aside to care for a loved one, but working to help improve this is Nick Dionne-Odom, a PhD, MSN, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.

The field of breast cancer has evolved from the days of defaulting to chemotherapy for every patient, yet much work remains to individualize treatment. Though more promising novel regimens have become available, an expert urges clinicians to carefully weigh whether a particular new agent will provide a significant enough benefit to offset its associated toxicities, cost, and the time and commitment by the patient it requires.

A new study has found that as women age, they are actually less like to have baseline bone density testing before embarking on aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy after breast cancer treatment, even though both increasing age and AI therapy increase fracture risk in postmenopausal women.

Many risk factors for breast cancer have been identified. One suspected risk factor is in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment; however, several studies have been inconclusive because of limited follow-up.

Melissa Andres, BSN, RN, OCN, discusses the growing role of nurse navigators and the rewards she has found in this specialty.

Despite some advances in treatment options for patients with sarcomas, researchers are still actively seeking to improve outcomes for pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients, a group particularly impacted by this diagnosis.

To help patients decide whether active surveillance or a more aggressive approach is best to treat their localized, low-risk prostate cancer, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University created an online decision-support tool that relies on a trained nurse educator to help patients better understand their treatment options.

A greater likelihood of developing most types of cancer was found to be associated with type 2 diabetes, according to findings of a large Canadian study published recently online in the journal Cancer.

Our immune system’s successful detection and destruction of abnormal cells is the hallmark of our body’s ability to either stop a malignancy from occurring or halt it once it has begun.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy prescribed a formal exercise program experienced less chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), and the finding held true across all chemotherapy regimens tested.

Although paradigms for treating older patients with head and neck cancer are not well defined, advancements in targeted and immunotherapies and less toxic radiation regimens suggest that physicians can aim for a more individualized approach to treating this patient population.