Compared to standard double reading from two radiologists, artificial intelligence (AI)–supported mammography screening detected one additional breast cancer per 1,000 patients, researchers reported in Lancet Oncology. AI mammography also cut radiologists’ screening workload nearly in half.
On October 16, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment and with continuation of single-agent pembrolizumab as postsurgical adjuvant treatment for resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm or node positive) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Approximately 10% of cancers are linked to a germline (inherited) pathogenic variant, which can be confirmed with germline susceptibility testing of a blood, skin, or saliva sample (not a tumor specimen). Identification of individuals with a germline pathogenic variant helps clinicians predict their risk for developing malignancies and provide recommendations for cancer prevention and early detection. If an individual develops a tumor, subsequent somatic predictive or prognostic biomarker tumor testing may be indicated.
On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo®) for the adjuvant treatment of completely resected stage IIB/C melanoma in patients aged 12 years and older.
Although Filipino Americans represent about 1% of the U.S. population, the community comprises a comparatively high 4% of the nursing workforce. October is Filipino American History Month, a time to recognize and honor the amazing history and journey of the Filipino American nursing community.
Well before the trauma, stress, and burnout from COVID-19, the nursing profession was facing a national workforce shortage. Decision-makers and the advocacy community—including ONS—have had serious policy discussions on how to blunt the impact on the patient population, including promoting federal investments at the Health Resources and Services Administration for more than a year. In August 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration responded, announcing a $100 million awards program to stem the tide.
Telehealth offers many benefits for patients with cancer, but it may present oncology nurses with unique challenges to maintaining effective and empathetic communication.
Healthcare workers are five times as likely to experience workplace violence as other workers, according to government data. In a National Nurses United survey in 2022, 40% of hospital nurses said they’d seen an increase in violent incidents. Karen Coughlin, chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association’s workplace violence and abuse prevention task force, joins John Yang to discuss.
More than two-thirds of cancer survivors are aged 65 or older, which is often when the general risk for heart disease increases. Some cancer drugs increase patients’ risk for cardiovascular (CV) adverse events, such as arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, hypertension, myocarditis, heart failure, and other cardiac complications. Here’s how oncology advanced practice providers (APPs) can assess for risk factors, implement prevention strategies (see sidebar), and improve the complex, coordinated care of patients receiving cardiotoxic drugs throughout the cancer continuum.
On October 11, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved encorafenib (Braftovi®) with binimetinib (Mektovi®) for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a BRAF V600E variant, as detected by an FDA-approved test.