TON - November/December 2014 Vol 7 No 6

Patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer but continue to smoke are at much higher risk of developing a secondary primary lung cancer (SPLC) compared with never smokers as well as those who have quit smoking, according to the largest analysis of its kind. “This study, which looked at the relationship between smoking history and developing a second lung cancer, adds to the evidence of the harmfulness of cigarette smoking. We presumed that never smokers would have a lower risk than current smokers, but we were encouraged to find that quitting smoking lowered the risk of SPLC and quitters had similar overall survival rates as never smokers,” said John Michael Boyle, MD, lead author, a radiation oncology resident at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina. Read More ›

Evidence-based healthcare, considered to be the best healthcare in the world, is a premise that many believe has become the norm in the United States. However, there are several reasons why this is not always the case. For example, one traditional standard is the empirical approach of teaching in the medical profession, “see one, do one, teach one,” which is not necessarily based on current best evidence. This method may have been the best available in the past, but as research and medicine are moving more quickly than ever before, healthcare providers need additional tools to keep abreast of advances founded on evidence-based research. Read More ›

In patients receiving everolimus in clinical trials, stomatitis frequently occurred in the initial weeks of treatment, but this did not compromise clinical outcomes, according to Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read More ›

For a cancer survivor, it’s enough to lay you flat. There’s a day when you learn that someone who has been in your survivor universe is no longer a part of that universe. And this news not only shakes you to the core, it roils the pot of emotions resting on your internal stovetop to a vigorous boil. Read More ›

The first multigene panels for colorectal cancer became clinically available in 2012. Prior to that date, clinical testing for inherited colorectal cancer syndromes typically proceeded in a sequential fashion. A clinician would develop a differential diagnosis and test corresponding genes in order of those most likely to have a causative mutation. Thus, analyzing multiple genes for inherited colorectal cancer risk was both time intensive and costly. Read More ›

Even though oncology nurses are charged with improving patients’ cancer-related and treatment-related symptoms, there is much room for improvement, according to Susan C. McMillan, PhD, ARNP, FAAN. McMillan received the Distinguished Nurse Researcher Award at the Oncology Nursing Society 39th Annual Congress and gave a presentation about symptom management in oncology nursing. Read More ›

A few years ago my son talked me into buying him a pair of Reeboks. It’s not that they were all that expensive, but they were purple and orange and, well, sorta ugly. I caved and bought him the shoes after he promised he would “wear them every day.” He wore them for a while, but then they just ended up in the back of his closet. I mean, how long can you wear purple and orange shoes? His feet grew, as boys’ feet do, and I took the shoes (still with plenty of wear left) to Goodwill. Read More ›

The diagnosis of cancer and the following treatment both have a profound impact on all aspects of a patient’s life. Quality of life is impacted in many aspects, including physical functioning, psychological well-being, and social life. Even at diagnosis, up to 50% of cancer patients present with some nutritional deficit that may be impacting physical functioning. Most of the anticancer treatments (ie, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation) will jeopardize food intake and therefore nutrition status at some point during treatment. This disruption contributes further to declining quality of life throughout care and into survivorship. Read More ›

Ibrutinib represents a major advance in the treatment of previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), having achieved dramatic and sometimes durable responses in both diseases. Although ibrutinib is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for both CLL and MCL, judging by the show of hands at the Oncology Nursing Society 39th Annual Congress, the majority of oncology nurses have not yet had experience with it. Read More ›

Joanne Frankel Kelvin, MSN, RN, AOCN, a fertility clinical nurse specialist who leads MSK’s program, spoke with The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA about the steps needed to develop the program, how she became involved and educated herself about the issue, and her experience with patients, as well as some of the challenges and hopes—now and in the future. Read More ›