From The Editors December 2021

TON - December 2021 Vol 14, No 6
Catherine Bishop, DNP, NP-C, AOCNP
Hematology/Oncology Nurse Practitioner

In the December issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we feature a variety of articles that specifically address topics of interest for nurses, navigators, and advanced practice providers caring for patients with cancer.

We begin this month’s issue with an interview with Katie Kean, RN, BSN, OCN, Nurse Manager, Clinical Operations-Oncology Infusion, Rush University Cancer Canter, Chicago, IL, who discussed her current roles and responsibilities at the center, which include preparing for a new outpatient cancer facility (see here).

“We are actively implementing new tools to help us achieve our goals of providing the best experience for our patients as well as a rewarding and engaging work environment for our team,” she explained.

Readers will also find news on the latest clinical trial results evaluating novel agents and treatment combinations being used to prolong survival in a wide range of malignancies, as well as insights and strategies for improving the overall patient experience and delivery of care.

At the 2021 Oncology Nursing Society Bridge virtual meeting, Kathleen Murphy-Ende, PhD, PsyD, AOCNP, PMHNP, Clinical Psychologist and Nurse Practitioner, University of Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry, Madison, discussed the importance of identifying and treating psychiatric disorders in individuals diagnosed with cancer (see here).

In a presentation at the virtual 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium, Aliya Gessling, MD, Internal Medicine Specialist, University of California, Davis Health, Sacramento, presented results of a pilot program aimed at identifying high-risk patients who need advance care planning and providing them with the necessary education and services (see here).

“These critical discussions between healthcare providers, patients, and loved ones are required to reflect a patient’s values, goals, and ultimately their choices for life-sustaining treatments,” she noted.

During the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2021 virtual annual meeting, investigators discussed interim results from a phase 3 trial evaluating the use of olaparib in a subset of patients with high-risk breast cancer (see here).

“The OlympiA study results, the first reporting the effects of a PARP inhibitor as an adjuvant therapy on survival end points, suggest a possible addition to the standard of care for patients with germline BRCA1/2 mutation–associated early breast cancer who have levels of recurrence risk requiring neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy,” said Andrew Tutt, MBChB, PhD, Director, Breast Cancer Now Toby Robbins Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research and Guy’s Hospital, London, England.

In another noteworthy session at this meeting, Ian Chau, MD, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Gastrointestinal and Haemato-Oncology, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, United Kingdom, presented early results from the CheckMate-648 trial, which suggest that select nivolumab-based regimens may become new standards of care for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (see here).

We also provide readers with an overview of the latest FDA drug approvals for the treatment of a variety of cancer types.

As always, we hope that you will enjoy this issue of TON, and we invite you to visit www.TheOncologyNurse.com to share your feedback with us. You can also send an e-mail with any questions or comments you may have to info@TheOncologyNurse.com.

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