In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the country’s first formal National Cancer Plan (NCP) under the Cancer Moonshot. It serves as a framework to guide the broad contributions across society in the United States’ work to “end cancer as we know it.”
The Senate Health Committee advanced legislation Thursday that would fund community health centers and increase the number of primary care physicians and nurses, despite a clash between the panel’s top members. The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee advanced the bill in a bipartisan 14-7 vote; however, it’s unclear if the bill has the support necessary to pass the full Senate, especially before funding expires September 30.
Interacting with animals can have positive effects on our well-being, including easing loneliness and reducing stress. To bring those benefits to patients in a healthcare setting, institutions may employ service or therapy dogs. But those pups don’t brighten days for patients alone—they also spread joy to healthcare staff, including nurses. To honor those helpful hounds, September is National Service Dog Month.
Leadership Development Committee (LDC) members are responsible for ensuring effective succession planning for the Society through assessing interested members’ readiness for Board service using established criteria and a comprehensive vetting process. The LDC identifies candidates who best align with the Board’s needs and ONS’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
On September 26, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bosutinib (Bosulif®) for pediatric patients aged 1 year and older with chronic phase Ph+ chronic myelogenous leukemia that is newly diagnosed or resistant or intolerant to prior therapy. FDA also approved a new 50 mg and 100 mg capsule dosage form.
Cellular therapy has revolutionized cancer treatments and outcomes for many patients, and it may one day revolutionize the management of certain side effects as well. According to study findings published in eBioMedicine, induced pluripotent stem cell transplantation may help reverse chemotherapy’s endocrine and reproductive effects on female infertility.
In August 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to capmatinib (Tabrecta®) for adults with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have a variant that leads to mesenchymal-epithelial transition exon 14 skipping. Capmatinib was granted accelerated approval for the same indication in May 2020; the regular approval in August 2022 was based on additional data from 63 patients and follow-up data establishing durability of response and clinical benefit.
On September 20, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Medline Industries had recalled a single lot of Hudson RCI AddiPak® unit dose vial, 0.9% full normal saline solution, because it may be nonsterile. FDA identified it as a class I recall, the most serious type of recall, where usage may cause serious injuries or death.
Ensuring that advanced practice RNs (APRNs) can deliver care to the full extent of their training and licensure is one way to remove barriers that limit patients’ access to high quality cancer care. In support of that goal, U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) reintroduced the Improving Care and Access to Nurses Act in July 2023. U.S. Representatives Dave Joyce (R-OH), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA), and Lauren Underwood (D-IL)—all members of the Congressional Nursing Caucus—introduced companion legislation in the U.S.