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Treatment adherence

Even Short Treatment Delays Affect Cancer Outcomes

Even Short Treatment Delays Affect Cancer Outcomes

Delaying initiation of cancer treatment by just four weeks is associated with increased mortality rates for patients with seven types of cancers, regardless of treatment type, researchers reported in BMJ.

February 03, 2021

Nurses Improve the Care Experience for Bone Marrow Transplant Recipients

Patients who receive bone marrow transplantations require vigilance for complications such as graft versus host disease, opportunistic infections, and febrile neutropenia. During a presentation for the inaugural ONS Bridge™ virtual conference, Barbara E. Wenger, DNP, APRN, AOCNS^®, CRNI, of UCHealth Metro, and Stephanie Armstrong, DNP, AGNP, NP-C, of Froedtert Hospital Clinical Cancer Center, described interventions to improve care quality in the BMT population.

September 10, 2020

San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Social Support May Play a Role in Treatment Adherence

Many women discontinue adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) because of adverse events (AEs), and only half remain adherent at five years. Researchers from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, found that continued social support for those women may improve AET adherence. They presented the findings at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 7, 2018.

December 07, 2018

Cancer treatments

FDA Modifies Use of Erlotinib in NSCLC, Used Only in Patients With EGFR Tumor Mutations

On October 18, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration modified the indication for erlotinib (TARCEVA, Astellas Pharm Global Development Inc.) for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to limit use to patients whose tumors have specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.

October 19, 2016

Patient assistance programs

Help Your Patients Navigate the Financial Challenges of Cancer

Every nurse has been in a situation where he or she is staring at a discharge document, thinking, “This patient will need an immense amount of outside support to adhere to this treatment plan.”

October 04, 2016

Treatment adherence

FDA Modifies Nivolumab Dosing for Three Indications

On September 13, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration modified the dosage regimen for nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) for the currently approved indications for renal cell carcinoma, metastatic melanoma, and non-small cell lung cancer. The currently approved recommended dosage regimens were modified to 240 mg intravenously (IV) every two weeks.

September 15, 2016

Cancer screening medical device

Cancer recurrence

Missing Radiation Therapy Sessions Increases Risk of Recurrence

Patients who miss two or more regularly scheduled radiation therapy sessions may be at increased risk of recurrence even if they eventually complete their course of treatment, researchers reported after a recent study.

An oncology nurse promotes oral adherence

Oncology Nurses Can Use Evidence to Promote Oral Adherence

Administration of chemotherapy drugs has shifted dramatically in the past 15 years from parenteral to oral administration. This change requires patients to self-manage their chemotherapy. Patients need to understand important medication administration tasks: right dose, right time, right route, and right drug.

January 05, 2016

Oncology nurses help patients adhere to oral chemotherapy

How Can Nurses Help Patients Adhere to Their Oral Chemotherapy?

Oral chemotherapy, like IV chemotherapy, effectively helps patients fight cancer and may have similar side effects to its IV counterparts. Self-administration of oral chemotherapy may be convenient, but it is still chemotherapy and requires extra caution.

January 05, 2016

Improving ahderence to oral treatment plans

Adherence to Oral Agents for Cancer

Adherence to oral agents for cancer (OACs) is an important issue in the oncology setting. Unlike IV agents, which are typically administered in a controlled environment by oncology nurses, OACs are self-administered at home with little professional oversight. The potential for medication error or nonadherence cannot be underestimated, but oncology nurses are in a key position to spearhead initiatives aimed at improving patient education and adherence for OACs.

January 05, 2016

Cancer treatments

Understand Medication Adherence to Oral Oncology Agents

More than half of new cancer treatment regimens involve an oral route of administration because oral drugs are more manageable and convenient for patients. However, oral medications pose challenges with regard to patient adherence.

Lymphedema as an oncology treatment side effect

Clinical practice

The Case of the Severe Sudden-Onset Swelling

Gina is filling in for the triage nurse at her facility’s outpatient solid tumor department. She receives a call from a patient who reports severe swelling in her left arm after returning from a trip on the opposite side of the United States. She says the skin in her arm and hand is quite tight, and that her hand was throbbing when she woke up this morning. What would you do?

October 15, 2013

bowel care regimen

Clinical practice

The Case of the Compacted Colon

Bob, a 61-year-old man with multiple myeloma, calls his hematologist’s office complaining of worsening constipation despite increasing his fiber and liquid intake. Yesterday, he stopped taking his ondansetron because he remembered that it can cause constipation, but now he’s nauseated in addition to being constipated. What would you do?

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