TON - June 2011, Vol 4, No 4

On April 28, 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga, Johnson & Johnson) for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) for patients who have failed docetaxel therapy. Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity in the United States.1,2 Each year approximately 215,000 men are diagnosed and 32,000 men die of the disease. Read More ›


Navigators in the Tampa Bay area facilitate the provision of individualized care to help patients receive timely diagnostic resolution of abnormal breast and/or colorectal cancer screenings and get timely treatment. They address a multitude of issues related to transportation, insurance, family support, fear, and other emotions involved with a cancer diagnosis as well as the complexities of the healthcare system, said Ercilia R. Calcano, administrator of the Patient Navigator Research Program (PNRP) at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Read More ›


As the incidence of invasive fungal infections has risen over the past 20 years, so has the level of concern among oncology nurses. In an interview with The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA, Brenda Shelton, MS, RN, CCRN, AOCN, clinical nurse specialist, The Sidney Kimmel Comp rehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, discusses who is at risk, how nurses can identify them, and steps nurses can take to help these patients.

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In December of 2009, Lisa M. Schnabel’s husband was diagnosed with glioblastoma, after 20 years of marriage with 3 teenaged children. Schnabel began working as a physician’s assistant in oncology the month she got married in 1989 and has been in her same position since. Her husband had been involved in medicine for as many years. He supported me through long hours and nursing children without a complaint. He even took a research job at the National Institutes of Health in pediatric oncology, so they would have lots to talk about over the dinner table.

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The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA congratulates Janet C. Stocker, RN, MS, NP-C, AOCNS, on being chosen by more than 400 of her peers to be this year’s winner of the Oncology Nurse Excellence award. Read More ›

Jupiter Medical Center’s Ella Millbank Foshay Cancer Center offers cancer trials in and for its Florida community. But providing care close to home is just part of the oncology clinical research nurse’s role in the clinical trials unit.

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Lynch syndrome, also called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), is the most common cause of hereditary endometrial cancer. It accounts for at least 2% to 3% of all endometrial cancer cases and 9% to 10% of endometrial cancer cases in women diagnosed younger than 50 years of age.1-3 Women with Lynch syndrome have a high lifetime risk for colorectal (30%- 52%)4 and endometrial (20%-71%)5 cancer. Read More ›


SAN FRANCISCO—A novel smallcaliber metal stent can provide a low-risk means of palliation for severe malignant dysphagia, according to investigators who have created these stents and are now testing them in trials. The results were presented at the 2011 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Stephen Kucera, MD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, where he is an interventional endoscopy fellow.

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Patients receiving chemotherapy are at risk for reactivation of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and this can have a significant negative impact on the outcomes, including death from liver failure. According to Emmy Ludwig, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York, one-third of the world has been exposed to HBV, “making it an enormous problem.”

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BOSTON—With complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) becoming increasingly popular among patients with cancer, it is important for oncology nurses to familiarize themselves with the evidence for and against various CAM therapies. Read More ›

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