SONO 2026: Nurses Remain the Front Line as Cancer Therapies Evolve

Oncology nurses administer novel therapies, monitor adverse effects, and field most patient questions, making rapid, disease-specific education essential, according to faculty at the 10th Annual School of Nursing Oncology (SONO), held November 11, 2026, at the New York Hilton Midtown.¹

The 1-day meeting, hosted by Physicians' Education Resource (PER), LLC, featured 20- to 25-minute sessions spanning lung, breast, gastrointestinal, and bladder cancers, hematologic malignancies, and toxicity management, with live question-and-answer sessions.¹

Why do nurses need disease-specific updates?

Beth Sandy, MSN, CRNP, FAPO, a nurse practitioner in thoracic oncology at the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, who presented on non–small cell lung cancer, described the format in an interview with Oncology Nursing News.

"This is a great conference for nurses to attend. You'll get basically 25-minute brief updates on all different kinds of diseases, solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, and the quality of the speakers has been great so far," said Sandy, noting that the meeting is in its 10th year.

Kelsey Martin, AG-ACNP-BC, AOCNP, a nurse practitioner at Sarah Cannon Research Institute/SCRI Oncology Partners in Nashville, Tennessee, who presented on precision oncology in breast cancer, valued that breadth.

"So many of us as APPs and as nurses see all types of patients and all types of tumor types," Martin said. "And so being able to kind of hear from different folks that are able to kind of give us even more pearls of wisdom and updates about specific tumor type is super exciting." At the 2025 meeting, Martin shared strategies for managing PI3K and AKT inhibitor adverse effects in breast cancer.²

What role do nurses play as novel therapies expand?

Donna D. Catamero, ANP-BC, OCN, CCRC, associate director of myeloma research at The Mount Sinai Health System and adjunct faculty at Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing in New York, who presented on multiple myeloma, emphasized nurses' position at the point of care.

"The nurses are at the front line, they're at the bedside. They are administrating these novel therapies, they're managing the side effects, they're monitoring the side effects. They're usually the first ones, the first line of defense," Catamero said. "So yes, conferences like this where nurses can get information on these novel therapies is really crucial because again, they're the first line of defense."

Amy Goodrich, CRNP, a nurse practitioner at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, who presented lymphoma updates, made a similar point from the podium: "Nursing is the backbone. Nursing is the intake, the educators. A lot of these clinics are NP run."

How are new SCLC data changing patient conversations?

Stephanie McDonald, MSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP, a nurse practitioner at the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, addressed brain MRI surveillance during her small cell lung cancer (SCLC) session. "This definitely supports MRI surveillance as a new standard approach," she said.

In the phase 3 SWOG S1827 MAVERICK trial, 304 patients with limited- or extensive-stage SCLC and no brain metastases after initial therapy were randomly assigned to brain MRI surveillance alone or with prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI).^3,4 At a median follow-up of 22 months, MRI surveillance alone improved cognitive failure–free survival (HR, 0.60; 90% CI, 0.46-0.78; P = .0005), with no apparent difference in preliminary overall survival.⁴ Grade 3 to 5 adverse events occurred in 0.8% vs 7.9% of patients, respectively.⁵

"Regardless, you need to be having these conversations with your patients because they're going to ask you about it. They're going to be asking all of us about it," McDonald said. As survival in lung cancer lengthens, nurses are also taking on a larger role in long-term care coordination.⁶

What are the key takeaways for oncology nurses?

• Nurses administer novel therapies and are often first to recognize adverse effects.
• Patients with SCLC may ask about MRI surveillance vs PCI; MAVERICK supports MRI surveillance alone, with final survival data pending.
• Brief, tumor-specific updates help clinicians who treat many cancer types.
• Live question-and-answer sessions let nurses bring practice questions to faculty.

References

1. 10th Annual School of Nursing Oncology (SONO). Physicians' Education Resource. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.gotoper.com/courses/school-of-nursing-oncology
2. Proactive nursing care for PI3K and AKT inhibitor adverse effects. Oncology Nursing News. September 8, 2025. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.oncnursingnews.com/view/proactive-nursing-care-for-pi3k-and-akt-inhibitor-adverse-effects
3. Rusthoven CG, Redman MW, Brown PD, et al. SWOG S1827 MAVERICK: phase III trial of brain MRI surveillance +/- prophylactic cranial irradiation for small-cell lung cancer. Presented at: IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer; September 12-15, 2026; Seoul, South Korea. Abstract PL02.01.
4. Brain MRI surveillance without prophylactic cranial irradiation improves cognitive outcomes in small cell lung cancer. News release. SWOG Cancer Research Network. September 14, 2026. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1143955
5. MAVERICK trial supports brain MRI surveillance alone as standard of care for SCLC. The ASCO Post. September 2026. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://ascopost.com/news/september-2026/maverick-trial-supports-brain-mri-surveillance-alone-as-standard-of-care-for-sclc/
6. Navigating the shift to chronic care in advanced lung cancer management. Oncology Nursing News. July 3, 2026. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.oncnursingnews.com/view/navigating-the-shift-to-chronic-care-in-advanced-lung-cancer-management