Mei is a 67-year-old patient who recently underwent an exploratory laparotomy, total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, and tumor debulking. Her surgical specimens were sent for pathology review and germline biomarker testing. Based on the findings, Mei was diagnosed with stage IIIC, high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer with a BRCA1 pathogenic germline variant.

Overall cancer death rates continued to decline from 2015–2019 among men, women, children, adolescents, and young adults in every major racial and ethnic group, according to the October 2022 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Cancer Society, and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries jointly issue the report each year to monitor cancer trends across society.

Prescreening patients for immune-related adverse events during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors using text messaging may reduce the need for some in-person, preinfusion office visits, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. The approach may help decrease the burden of cancer care for both patients and providers.

Long-term use of vaping products can significantly impair the body’s blood vessel functioning, increasing a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, researchers for two studies supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, reported in October 2022. The researchers also found that combined use of e- and regular cigarettes may increase that risk even further than use of either product alone.

Equalizing the quality of patient-provider communication for Black versus White patients is one way to reduce the systemic racial disparities prevalent in cancer care, researchers reported in study findings published in the November 2022 issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum. They identified critical opportunities for oncology nurses to improve interpersonal communication with Black patients. Nurses are key drivers to affecting change and cancer outcomes for all patients, they reported.

Giving providers the latest evidence to inform the safe use and management of opioid prescriptions for cancer-related and other types of short- and long-term pain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated and expanded its recommendations in November 2022. The updated information was published in the CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain, which replaces the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.

On December 22, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to mosunetuzumab-axgb (Lunsumio®), a bispecific, CD20-directed, CD3 T-cell engager for adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who’ve received two or more lines of systemic therapy.

Compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts, most Hispanic patients with localized prostate cancer are nearly 20% more likely to have aggressive disease, but the risk varies based on their country of origin, researchers reported in study findings published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. Additionally, they found that the population faces disparities in access to care, with only approximately 60% receiving appropriate treatment.

On December 22, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that Hospira, Inc., a Pfizer company, issued a voluntarily recall of one lot of vancomycin hydrochloride injection, USP, 1.5 g, single-dose flip-top vial, at the consumer level. Hospira, Inc., issued the recall because a report of two glass particulates observed in a single vial.

On December 22, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported Accord Healthcare, Inc.’s, voluntarily recall of a single lot of daptomycin for injection 500 mg and 350 mg vials at the consumer level because vials labeled as “daptomycin for injection 500 mg/vial” were found in cartons labeled “daptomycin for injection 350 mg/vial.”