Addressing a clinical problem through evidence-based practice (EBP) involves asking the right questions in the right way, finding the best available evidence, and assessing what practice change may be needed. A core factor in the EBP journey is the development of nurses who possess a spirit of inquiry within a culture that supports a systematic process for asking clinical questions.
The Oncology Center of Excellence of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing healthcare providers about new safety information for Varubi® (rolapitant) injectable emulsion, a substance P/neurokinin (NK-1) receptor antagonist indicated for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in adults.
Taking an intentional drug holiday may improve patients’ response to reintroduction of treatment in drug-resistant melanoma, according to the results of a study published in Cancer Discovery.
Vince was diagnosed with non-muscle invasive, high-grade bladder cancer at age 54 and treated with intravesical Bacille-Calmette Guerin immunotherapy. He stopped smoking and began a consistent walking program.
On January 12, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to afatinib for a broadened indication in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have non-resistant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test.
On January 12, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to olaparib tablets, a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with chemotherapy either in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic setting.
Music has historically been associated with health and healing in cultures around the world. As a therapeutic intervention in patients with cancer, it is used to address physical and psychological symptoms. The sessions are tailored to meet patients’ individual needs and abilities and can involve listening to, writing, performing, or discussing music and lyrics, guided by a trained therapist. Although music does not affect the disease itself, it produces more immediate effects compared to pharmacologic agents, has a positive impact on mood, and strengthens patients’ ability to cope.
Cancers are never confined by borders. For most disease types, the ones seen in clinics and institutions throughout the United States are the same found in other first-, second-, and third-world countries. The realities facing cancer, treatments, and patient outcomes are often challenging to address no matter where you live, and it’s one of the many common threads that tie oncology professionals together the world over.
With improved early detection guidelines and techniques as well as advancing cancer treatments, cancer is now a chronic disease in an already aging population. In addition, the Affordable Care Act expanded healthcare coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans, increasing the need for medical services. With these trends in health care, nurse practitioners (NPs) are needed at the forefront to positively impact and enhance oncology care.
According to results from the first National Cancer Opinion Survey of 4,016 U.S. adults, the majority of Americans are unaware of several major risk factors for cancer, particularly obesity, which is the second-largest preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after smoking.