A new pilot program will help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make transparent performance recommendations for diagnostic tests used to select certain oncology drug treatments, the agency said in a June 2024 press release. The announcement comes on the heels of FDA’s final rule regarding increased oversight and enforcement of laboratory-developed tests for conditions such as cancer.
As innovators and leaders, oncology nurses and advanced practice providers are increasingly collaborating with engineers to create or expand the use of technology to improve cancer outcomes.
Certain genetic variants can increase an individual’s risk for prevalent or persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and the subsequent potential to develop cervical cancer, researchers reported in study findings published in the European Journal of Human Genetics. They identified three variants that increased an individual’s risk for HPV and one that lowered their risk.
In response to the ever-changing practice of cancer care, in May 2024, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and ONS released updates to their administration safety standards to provide clarification and guidance for oncology healthcare professionals. Here’s what you need to know about the changes as an oncology nurse.
Connecting oncology nurses to resources and education with topics that support direct care nurses in their day-to-day practice, ONS will host its premier virtual oncology nursing conference, ONS Bridge™, on September 10 and 12, 2024, with a bonus day on September 11, 2024. Attendees can experience expert education from their homes or workplaces through daily live sessions, a virtual exhibit hall, networking opportunities, and access to industry representatives. In addition, recorded sessions will be available until October 22, 2024.
The Biden administration asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by anti-smoking groups demanding that it end nearly a year of delay and ban menthol cigarettes, which are used disproportionately by Blacks and younger people. In a Thursday night court filing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the delay was not unreasonable because it had yet to determine that a ban was “appropriate for the protection of the public health.”
In nursing school, we learned that the maximum volume for a single subcutaneous (SC) injection is 1.5–2 ml. However, today’s unique antineoplastic formulations may require volumes up to 15 ml (e.g., daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj), forcing nurses to rethink administration practices. Currently, evidence on large-volume SC administration procedures is sparse, making it difficult to determine best practice.
An integrated screening and stepped collaborative care strategy produced a greater improvement in patients’ quality of life (QOL) and management of depression, pain, and fatigue during the first six months of cancer treatment, researcher reported in study findings published in The Lancet. Patients maintained the benefits at 12 months, as well.
A template-based standardized ambulatory oncology nurse orientation process substantially reduced turnover rates at a large academic comprehensive cancer center, ONS member Christina M. Matousek, MSN, RN, OCN®, reported in an article in the June 2024 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Additionally, the standardized training ensured new nurses built consistent, disease-specific experience across 17 different interprofessional disease teams.
When applied to machine learning models and other artificial intelligence (AI), the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm more equitably and uniformly distributes a dataset’s racial and ethnic biomedical information, researchers reported in study findings published in the Journal of Healthcare Informatics Research. They demonstrated that the algorithm created parity in a group of patients spanning a broad range of population backgrounds.