In the July issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA, we feature the Fairfield Medical Center from Lancaster, OH. They have a comprehensive cancer program where medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, oncology nurses, and other team members work together to provide an individualized treatment plan for every patient.
Another featured article this month is the Genetic Counseling column by Cristi Radford, MS, CGC. In her article, she talks about novel ovarian cancer genes as well as risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. For more information about these genes, see “‘Newer’ Ovarian Cancer Genes, Option of Risk-Reducing Salpingo-Oophorectomy.”
Don’t forget to read about the lastest research presented at conferences in our conference news section. This month, we continue to cover news from the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium, bringing you the latest from the Oncology Nursing Society 41st Annual Congress, as well as data from the 2016 Community Oncology Conference.
In addition, we share a technology update on CancerLinQ, the big data cancer database from ASCO. “We have to create a platform that will accept data from different systems to enable interoperability across many sources,” explained Robert S. Miller, MD, a medical oncologist and Vice President, ASCO Quality and Guidelines, and Medical Director of CancerLinQ. We also report on an electronic “facility board,” a communication tool that was created to easily look at patient status and improve communication. The board led to more clinical interventions for abnormal vital signs, a reduction in falls among high-risk patients, and more ordering of specialty beds.
This issue also includes articles on a variety of treatments and conditions, including immunotherapy, head and neck cancer, sexual health, palliative care, and side effect management. In particular, the article about immunotherapy provides information about separating facts from fiction. “Cancer is inherently robust. We’ve learned this over decades and decades of failure; we’ve seen it become resistant, and patients die. And this has not changed, ultimately, even though some patients do well,” according to the researcher.
In this issue’s reader poll, we ask about your confidence level explaining genomic information to patients. Please visit our website, TheOncologyNurse.com, and let us know whether this is something you are comfortable doing. We hope you enjoy this issue, and as always, we look forward to your feedback.
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