Implanted ports are an important lifeline for patients receiving antineoplastic treatments; however, despite vast nursing research on the maintenance and utilization of venous implanted ports, still so much remains to be learned. Many of the practices surrounding implanted ports remain controversial.
On August 17, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to olaparib tablets for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
On Aug. 17, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved inotuzumab ozogamicin for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Between administering antineoplastic agents, monitoring patient vitals, and preparing patients for treatment, oncology nurses are required to balance their attention between many intricate tasks. Chief among the division of duties is that oncology nurses closely monitor their patients for hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to prescribed agents.
As a national nursing organization with a specialty in cancer care, ONS occupies a unique space in the healthcare public policy environment. When nurses speak, decision makers listen, because nurses are the most trusted healthcare providers. This is not an insignificant fact to those who decide how to implement health policy decisions through law and the regulatory system.
Many Americans use dietary supplements, including herbal products, in the belief that they are natural and safe. Patients with cancer use them often to enhance the effects or to reduce the adverse reactions of cancer treatments. However, few herbs have been thoroughly studied in humans. Therefore, their interactions with prescription drugs and the clinical relevance, remain undetermined.
Kris is a 46-year-old newly diagnosed with stage III cervical cancer. She is an avid runner and vegetarian, and she believes strongly in taking care of herself. “I never thought I would get cancer,” she says. “I thought I did everything I could to avoid this.”
Experts currently estimate that opioid addiction kills nearly 100 Americans every day, and the scale of the problem is continuing to grow. In response, President Trump to unofficially declared the opioid crisis a national emergency during a public statement from his golf resort in Bedminster, NJ, on August 10, 2017.
Before any new treatment or approach is used with people in clinical trials, researchers work to understand its effects on cancer cells in the lab and in animals. Researchers design cancer clinical trials to test new ways to treat, detect, diagnose, and prevent cancer, and manage symptoms of cancer and side effects from treatment.