Pandemics have a tremendous impact on societies and individuals alike. From incidence rates to death tolls, financial hardship to job loss, and anxiety to isolation, we’ve all been affected in one way or another—although some much more than others.

A nurse was the first U.S. citizen to receive the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine. Biden also recently appointed a nurse to the COVID-19 advisory board. Clearly the country recognizes nurses’ consistent power and trustworthiness, and nurses can use that power to educate the public about the Biden administration’s tactics to get vaccines to the rest of the country and control the spread.

On February 9, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo^®) for use in patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor (HHI) or for whom an HHI is not appropriate. FDA also granted accelerated approval to cemiplimab-rwlc for patients with metastatic BCC previously treated with an HHI or for whom an HHI is not appropriate. 

Palliative radiation targeted directly to the tumor with stereotactic body radiation therapy eliminated metastatic pain in 33% of patients for six months compared to 16% with standard radiation therapy. Researchers reported the study findings at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting.

In a rare moment of bicameral success, 49 U.S. House of Representatives and Senate members introduced legislation to make permanent the Medicare telehealth coverage that had been introduced as a temporary measure during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi^®) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified—including DLBCL arising from indolent lymphoma—high-grade B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma grade 3B.

Social connection with others is widely considered a fundamental human need, crucial to well-being and survival. A growing body of literature is evaluating cancer caregivers’ needs, yet strategies to address loneliness, which has broadly detrimental effects on caregivers, are still in their infancy. Therefore, my goal is to identify better support strategies for caregivers as they support their loved ones with cancer.

Watching patients—or even colleagues—suffer or die, not being able to protect yourself with the right personal protective equipment, worry about exposing loved ones, and the challenge of balancing it all contribute to an immeasurable psychological burden for nurses and other healthcare professionals during a pandemic. Studies show that the effects are serious, leading to post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and, in some cases, suicide among providers.

Drug pricing is a bipartisan issue that ranks very high on public opinion polling, and patients with cancer in particular feel the effects of an unregulated market. 

On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to umbralisib (Ukoniq™), a kinase inhibitor including PI3K-delta and casein kinase CK1-epsilon, for adult patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma who have received at least one prior anti-CD20-based regimen and adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have received at least three prior lines of systemic therapy.