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    Advocate in Your Own Backyard
    Cancer healthcare advocacy
    Advocate in Your Own Backyard
    May 09, 2019
    Health Policy Begins With You: Educate Your Representatives in Cancer Care
    Health Policy
    Health Policy Begins With You: Educate Your Representatives in Cancer Care
    April 04, 2019
    Providing Expert Testimony in the Virginia State Senate
    Cancer healthcare advocacy
    Providing Expert Testimony in the Virginia State Senate
    March 14, 2019
    Summer Oncology Nursing Fellowship Program Supports Undergraduate Students
    Oncology nursing community
    Summer Oncology Nursing Fellowship Program Supports Undergraduate Students
    February 22, 2019
    Experience the Power of Patient-Centered Research Through PCORI
    Health Policy
    Experience the Power of Patient-Centered Research Through PCORI
    February 07, 2019
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    Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Cabozantinib (Cabometyx®)
    Clinical practice

    Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Cabozantinib

    Cabozantinib (Cabometyx®) received an additional U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indication in January 2019 for use in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have already been treated with sorafenib. It received prior approval for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma in 2017. The research leading to the approval in the HCC setting showed improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response in the cabozantinib treatment arm.

    April 23, 2019
    Oncology Urgent Care Clinics Are an Emerging Setting for Cancer Care Delivery
    Care coordination

    Oncology Urgent Care Clinics Are an Emerging Setting for Cancer Care Delivery

    Patients with cancer are living longer, embarking on complex treatment regimens, and experiencing more complications associated with care. As a result, a large volume of patients with cancer require urgent or emergency visits throughout their disease trajectory. Although the need remains constant, what has evolved over time are the chief complaints that bring patients in, the care associated with complications, and new options to lower the burden and cost of care.    

    April 15, 2019
    Biosimilars, Oral Agents, and Drugs Targeting Genetic Mutations Are Creating a Paradigm Shift in Cancer Treatment
    Genetics & genomics

    Biosimilars, Oral Agents, and Drugs Targeting Genetic Mutations Are Creating a Paradigm Shift in Cancer Treatment

    New treatment options continue to emerge for diseases that until recently had limited, if any, treatment choices. Nurses are seeing more changes in the way treatment regimens come together, biosimilars are presenting viable options for patients, and genetic mutations, as opposed to disease sites, are at the forefront of drug development.  

    March 19, 2019
    Biosimilars and Oral Agents Lead New Approvals in the Cancer Setting
    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    Biosimilars and Oral Agents Lead New Approvals in the Cancer Setting

    A majority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for cancer agents in the latter part of 2018 represented second and third approvals for new indications in other disease sites. Many were given expedited approval, but with that comes the potential that the incidence of adverse events may be underrepresented because fewer patients received the agents in a clinical trial setting. 

    December 18, 2018
    Chemotherapy Is Still a Staple in Treatment Plans. Here’s a Fresh Look at a Familiar Treatment Option
    Treatments

    Chemotherapy Is Still a Staple in Treatment Plans. Here’s a Fresh Look at a Familiar Treatment Option

    Despite all of the new drugs approved in recent years—particularly immunotherapies, oral agents, and biosimilars—that have forced nurses to consider many novel approaches to patient care, the importance of chemotherapy in cancer treatment has remained a constant. In a field where it feels like no two days are the same and new drugs emerge on a rolling basis, chemotherapy continues to be a staple in cancer treatment plans and safety and administration principles remain constant. 

    November 26, 2018
    This Week, Recognize and Thank Your Oncology Nurse Practitioner Colleagues
    Advanced practice nursing (APN)

    This Week, Recognize and Thank Your Oncology Nurse Practitioner Colleagues

    Nurse practitioners (NPs) play an undeniably valuable role in producing quality outcomes in cancer patients. For National NP Week from November 11–17, 2018, pause with ONS to recognize, thank, and support the oncology NPs who relentlessly pursue excellence, striving for the best for their patients from diagnosis through survivorship.

    November 12, 2018
    Biosimilars and Gene Therapy Are Making Great Strides in Cancer Care
    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    Biosimilars and Gene Therapy Are Making Great Strides in Cancer Care

    As researchers learn more about how combination therapy combats drug resistance and lessens the changes of tumor evasion of the immune system, immune checkpoint inhibitors are receiving approval for a broader range of indications. However, recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals have centered around hematologic malignancies and the emergence of two new biosimilars. 

    September 25, 2018
    An Oncology Nurse’s Guide to Targeted Therapy
    Targeted therapy

    An Oncology Nurse’s Guide to Targeted Therapy

    Whereas chemotherapy induces apoptosis by interfering with cell division of both cancerous and healthy cells, targeted therapy exploits targets, proteins, enzymes, or genes specific to malignant cells through a variety of mechanisms of action, which helps prevent drug resistance. The agents work by either inhibiting angiogenesis, blocking chemical signals that tell cells to divide or carry out normal function, or delivering toxic substances to a cell. 

    August 14, 2018
    Latest FDA Cancer Treatment Approvals Trend Toward New Indications
    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    Latest FDA Cancer Treatment Approvals Trend Toward New Indications

    What is unique about the most recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals in the oncology/hematology area is that almost all are for new indications of existing agents as opposed to new agents. This is not surprising because many of the agents target specific bioassays or tumor markers instead of a specific disease site. Oncology nurses need to be aware of the changes because treatments that they have become accustomed to giving for one indication may soon be given for others as well.

    June 28, 2018
    Here’s an Overview of the Types, Mechanisms, and Side Effects of Currently Approved Immunotherapies
    Immunotherapy

    Here’s an Overview of the Types, Mechanisms, and Side Effects of Currently Approved Immunotherapies

    Immunotherapy drugs fall into varying classes, each carrying its own mechanism of action and anticipated side effects. Although some side effects of immunotherapy may appear similar to those of chemotherapy (e.g., diarrhea, fatigue), they actually result from a totally different mechanism—meaning they require a different approach to management. Treating immunotherapy side effects as you would chemotherapy effects would likely result in patient harm.

    May 29, 2018
    What You Need to Know About Obtaining Informed Consent
    Oncology clinical trials

    What You Need to Know About Obtaining Informed Consent

    Informed consent is a comprehensive process as opposed to a check mark on a list of tasks to complete prior to starting cancer therapy. The American Society of Clinical Oncology/ONS Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards explain that informed consent provides a patient with “sufficient information about the disease diagnosis and treatment options so that the individual can make a reasonable decision about treatment on the basis of an understanding of the potential risks and anticipated benefits of the treatment.”

    May 28, 2018
    Biosimilars Offer New Options for Treatment and New Concepts for Patient Education
    Biotherapy

    Biosimilars Offer New Options for Treatment and New Concepts for Patient Education

    The list of pharmacologic agents used in cancer care is expanding: chemotherapy, biotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy, and now biosimilars. Part of being a nurse leader is recognizing trends in cancer care, changes on the horizon, and their impact on your patients and cancer treatment options. Biosimilars represent one such trend that affects providers’ approach to care and the education that oncology nurses must provide to patients and caregivers.

    April 24, 2018
    Newly Approved Cancer Treatments Indicate Growing Role of Genomics and Oral Therapies
    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    Newly Approved Cancer Treatments Indicate Growing Role of Genomics and Oral Therapies

    It is becoming more commonplace for nurses to find orders for agents with which they are unfamiliar or quite possibly have never administered. Following is a summary of the latest new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals or indications to keep you up to date in your practice. Of note, this summary contains the approval of yet another biosimilar in trastuzumab-dkst and rolapitant for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, which includes a safety alert. Early experiences with rolapitant, a NK-1 inhibitor, indicated a risk of hypersensitivity reactions.

    March 28, 2018
    Overview of Radiation Therapy for Cancer
    Radiation therapy

    Get an Overview of Radiation Therapy for Cancer

    Radiation therapy is a precise cancer treatment that targets tumor cells specifically and spares healthy surrounding tissues. Contrary to pharmacologic treatment methodologies, side effects are predominantly site-specific.

    February 27, 2018
    Leadership in Nursing
    Nurse empowerment

    Leadership in Nursing Takes Many Forms

    Do you promote optimal patient outcomes, advocate for patients’ voices, and implement change? Then you’re a nurse leader. It is easy to think of nurse leaders as those in administrative positions or conducting bedside research, but the reality is that nursing leadership can take on many roles through a variety of different nursing positions, from generalist to certified to advanced practice. Leadership is about influencing change and improvement, inspiring those around you.

    January 23, 2018
    FDA Approves First Biosimilar for Cancer Treatment, Among Other New Immunotherapy Dosing and Indications
    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    FDA Approves First Biosimilar for Cancer Treatment, Among Other New Immunotherapy Dosing and Indications

    Cancer treatment options continue to multiply as 2017 concludes, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting additional new drug approvals and broadening indications for others. Checkpoint inhibitors continue to explode on the scene with accelerated approvals for various indications. Treatment options for hematologic cancers are multiplying. Additionally, the first biosimilar for cancer treatment, bevacizumab-awwb, was approved as a biosimilar to bevacizumab.

    December 27, 2017
    ONS’s Recommendations for Gowns When Handling Hazardous Drugs
    Safe handling

    What Are ONS’s Recommendations for Gowns When Handling Hazardous Drugs?

    Although USP Chapter <800> implementation has been delayed, ONS experts are receiving questions about clarifications and specifics for wearing gowns when handling hazardous drugs (HDs). Questions include topics such as hanging gowns and reusing, length of time gowns can be worn, the need for gowns with oral chemotherapy agents, and materials requirements of gowns. 

    November 28, 2017
    Get Resources to Educate and Monitor Patients for Sepsis
    Clinical practice

    Get Resources to Educate and Monitor Patients for Sepsis

    Sepsis is a formidable complication of cancer and cancer treatment. Claiming more than 250,000 lives annually, it is a medical emergency. Do you have sepsis algorithms and protocols in place? Do all specialty areas have a way to identify patients with cancer as a highly vulnerable population? Is sepsis-specific education provided to nurses and patients? Starting the conversation and advocating for policy development and change may just save a life.

    November 27, 2017
    What Oncology Nurses Need to Know About Subcutaneous Rituxan Hycela
    Immunotherapy

    What Oncology Nurses Need to Know About Subcutaneous Rituxan Hycela

    In June 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rituxan Hycela, a combination of rituximab and hyaluronidase, for subcutaneous administration in the treatment of follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This agent affords the same clinical benefit as IV rituximab, but in much less time. With this approval comes many questions about which patients are appropriate and administration considerations for subcutaneous rituximab and hyaluronidase.
    Recent Drug Approvals Offer New Options for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Genitourinary Cancers, and More
    Treatments

    Recent Drug Approvals Offer New Options for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Genitourinary Cancers, and More

    Cancer treatment options continue to multiply as 2017 continues, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting multiple new drug approvals and broadening indications for others. Oncology clinicians and nurses are challenged with staying abreast of treatment option expansions and navigating the dynamic field of cancer treatment to effectively navigate their patients through the treatment trajectory, educating on vital points relative to treatment, minimizing morbidity and mortality, and optimizing quality of life. Following is an overview of the latest approvals for the second quarter of 2017.

    September 27, 2017
    Chemotherapy at home
    Chemotherapy

    What Precautions and Recommendations Are Necessary for Patients Receiving Oral Chemotherapy in the Home?

    So far, 2017 has seen an incredible amount of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for new agents and indications. Biotherapy and targeted agents represent many of the newly approved treatment options—a great deal of which are offered in oral form, increasing the opportunity for patients to receive treatment at home.

    September 26, 2017
    sepsis awareness
    Adverse events

    September Is Sepsis Awareness Month

    As September winds down, ONS, a partner in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) and American Nurses Association’s Nursing Infection Control Education Network, is raising awareness of Sepsis Awareness Month by highlighting resources and strategies for oncology nurses who are deeply rooted in preventing and treating sepsis in patients with cancer.

    September 25, 2017
    access device standards
    Standards

    Evidence-Based Standards Guide the Use and Maintenance of Venous Implanted Ports

    Implanted ports are an important lifeline for patients receiving antineoplastic treatments; however, despite vast nursing research on the maintenance and utilization of venous implanted ports, still so much remains to be learned. Many of the practices surrounding implanted ports remain controversial.

    August 22, 2017
    oncology patient safety in treatments
    Standards

    Using Standards Balances Technology Advancements With Critical Thinking

    Advancements in medical records technology provide safeguards and contribute to overall patient safety. However, consider the following treatment scenarios and how they may present opportunities for error and jeopardize patient safety.

    July 25, 2017
    Safe handling immunotherapy
    Safe handling

    What Safe Handling and Administration Requirements Apply to Immunotherapy?

    In a supplement to the April 2017 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, ONS released its first set of recommendations for nurse education and safe handling principles regarding immunotherapy administration. ONS recommendations are based on best-available evidence and the anecdotal experiences of professionals at cancer centers with varied experiences in immunotherapy administration.

    June 27, 2017
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    Kathleen Wiley RN, MSN, AOCNS®
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