Community Nurses Bridge Gap in Delivering Local Bispecific Antibody Therapy

The landscape of cancer care is shifting as advanced precision therapies, once limited to major tertiary medical centers, move into the community setting. At the forefront of this transition are oncology nurses, who are redefining their roles to ensure that complex treatments, such as bispecific antibodies, can be delivered safely and effectively closer to patients' homes.

Kerry Mann, RN, OCN, a flex nurse at Mission Cancer + Blood, has been instrumental in this shift. Partnering with medical oncologist Dr. Tara Graff, Mann has helped develop a playbook designed to demystify the logistics of these high-level therapies for community practices. The initiative specifically targets treatments for conditions like relapsed/refractory lymphoma, which traditionally required hospitalization or travel to distant specialized centers.

“Ultimately, the goal was to bring the bispecifics locally so patients didn't have to go to tertiary centers and be able to stay in their home,” Mann explained in an interview with Oncology Nursing News. She noted that the clinical benefits are often tied to the patient's environment, stating that patients "tend to do better when they're at home and around their loved ones and in their familiar place and where they're comfortable."

To bridge the gap between innovation and local delivery, Mann and her team established rigorous, scalable protocols. The program utilizes a specialized team of nurse practitioners who conduct "chemo teach" sessions to educate patients on potential drug side effects. By involving caregivers and providing comprehensive education, the model turns patients into active partners in their own care.Safety remains the highest priority in this community-based model.

Mann described a intensive monitoring period of 48 to 72 hours following treatment. During this window, the nursing team remains on call and maintains constant contact with the patient. “We follow up with those patients every 6 hours,” Mann said. “We'll call them at 5 a.m. We call them at 10 at night and monitor them and if needed, we will bring them into our office in the middle of the night to treat them.”

This high-touch approach is designed to eliminate the anxiety often associated with advanced therapies. Mann emphasized that "this takes the fear away, knowing that we're not treating you and then sending you home. We're going to keep tabs on you."

This model is particularly vital for rural patients, for whom the logistical burden of traveling to a tertiary center can often be a barrier to accessing top-tier medicine. By implementing these standardized protocols, Mann believes other community clinics can expand their care offerings and offer precision medicine "right where patients live." Mann concluded that the success of the program relies on a highly trained, specialized team where every member is "checked off" on the specific protocols and drugs involved.