Psychological stress in caregivers of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) may impair the quality of patient care they provide and affect outcomes such as survival. However, patient symptom burden and caregiver tasks and their impact on psychological stress is not well understood.

Internet and web-based programs are becoming increasingly important resources in career training, including for oncology nursing. However, training in supportive oncology can still pose challenges. Researchers studied how institutions used web-based oncology training for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and presented their findings on Monday, June 4, at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Ensuring patients adhere to oral medications for cancer can be a complex task, especially if patients have low health literacy. Oral medications for cancer continue to be more prevalent, but rates of adherence to oral therapy vary widely by population, cancer type, and level of education. At the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers presented the results of a study that hypothesized health literacy’s connection to oral medication adherence and whether a multilevel intervention approach would result in greater adherence.

Oncology nurses often work with older patients with cancer, but knowledge gaps in training can remain. To combat this issue, researchers implemented an educational curriculum in geriatric care for oncology nurses and presented the results of that training at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Evidence already supports a connection between night shift work and an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the mechanism has been difficult to pinpoint. In a study presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers evaluated the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 1 and 2 proteins and presented the role they play in the connection of night shift work and CRC.

A component of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, AT-rich interactive domain 1A (ARID1A), regulates gene expression. Data on the characteristics and associated clinicopathologic features of ARID1A in colorectal cancer (CRC) are limited, even though its mutations are reported in a variety of other cancers. In study findings presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers explained an increased understanding of the ARID1A mutation in CRC.

Improving quality and reducing costs in a practice are two of the Oncology Care Model’s (OCM) key goals, and one of the best ways to achieve them is to reduce unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. During a study presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers described a campaign implemented to reach those objectives.

Despite the prevalence of multidisciplinary (MD) care for cancer, rigorous studies comparing it to serial care (SC) are lacking. To address the literature gap, researchers explored the use of MD versus SC for lung cancer and presented the findings at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

The oncology nursing profession is a difficult career, fraught with long hours and stressful situations. With those factors, anxiety and depression could become more prevalent. In study findings published in conjunction with the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers reported the rates of depression and anxiety among nurses working in oncology units and how certain situations related to these rates.

Goal setting and shared decision making are important components of aftercare for cancer survivors. In the results of a study published in conjunction with the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers shared their experience developing and pretesting a systematic conversation approach for nurses to tailor the aftercare needs and goals of cancer survivors.

Patient safety is an important focus for hospitals: protecting patients improves outcomes and quality of care, meets standards, and ensures payments and reimbursement. But what factors contribute to a culture of safety? Researchers assessed and analyzed the components of patient safety culture and published their study findings in conjunction with the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Cancer is the most common diagnosis in adults older than 65 in the United States. As the older adult population increases and drives up malignancy diagnoses, nurse practitioners’ (NPs) and physician assistants’ (PAs) contributions to their care need to be better identified. In the results of a study published in conjunction with the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers reported on their exploration of the role of NPs and PAs in the oncology workforce.

Researchers conducted a single-center, cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between patient-reported quality-of-life (QOL), adverse events (AEs), and treatment characteristics (including tumor type, drug class, number of cycles, and treatment intent). The study’s findings were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Guidelines regarding healthcare provider communication about immunotherapy do not currently exist. Researchers sought to determine patient and provider preferences for this type of information and to identify barriers to communication about immunotherapy. The study’s findings were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Discussing goals of care with patients with advanced cancer can provide better information on the disease, treatment options, and prognosis, as well as elicit patient values. A randomized, controlled trial tested a coaching model to improve healthcare providers’ communication on goals of care. The study’s findings were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

National guidelines suggest that the use of chemotherapy near end of life (EOL) is aggressive and is associated with poorer patient quality of life. In addition, Medicare payments for outpatient chemotherapy have decreased since around 2005–2006. In a recent study presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers evaluated the impact of U.S. payment reform and guidelines on chemotherapy use at EOL, comparing chemotherapy use at EOL in the United States and other countries.

Previous research has indicated that patient satisfaction is linked to time spent with a physician. However, long wait times and organizational issues in an outpatient setting may increase the need for alternative care models. In a study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers assessed the use of phone calls instead of a face-to-face consultation prior to chemotherapy (CT) and the effect on patient satisfaction and quality of life.

Hospital readmission rates may be avoidable in some patients with metastatic disease. Researchers assessed patient factors more likely to be associated with increased readmissions, such as demographics, comorbidities, hospital type, payer, and discharge disposition, in a study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Patients with advanced-stage cancer experience frequent hospitalizations, followed by post-discharge transitions of care that can influence patient quality of life. A study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting sought to examine predictors of discharge location for these patients.

Long-term (10-year) follow-up of a cancer screening tool indicated more early cancer diagnoses, according to a study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Researchers sought to assess the value of breast imaging centers (BICs) as potential clinics to identify women who are at high risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) and increase the number of appropriate referrals for genetic assessment. The researchers’ hospital-based BIC serves mostly low- to middle-income patients in a major metropolitan area. They developed a practical screening tool based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network HBOC screening and testing guidelines and prospectively screened patients. The researchers presented their findings at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

The Living With Cancer (LWC) patient-reported outcome (PRO) tool evaluates distress in patients with advanced cancer using a seven-item Likert survey to measure performance status, pain, burden (financial and family), and depression, with scores ranging from 0–112.

Optimal timing for the initiation of specialist palliative care has not been determined. In a study, researchers created a supportive oncology inpatient service that integrates up-front palliative care consultation for certain patients with advanced cancer and compared it to those receiving usual oncologic care with on-demand palliative care consultation. The study’s findings were presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Older adults with cancer can have limited functional and health status; however, occupational (OT) and physical therapy (PT) are underused resources of care in this patient population. Researchers evaluated an outpatient CAncer REhabilitation (CARE) intervention program for this older adults in comparison to usual care. The study’s findings were presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

The multicenter, phase II SAR028 clinical trial was the first to study pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with soft tissue sarcoma or bone sarcoma to assess the clinical efficacy signals in multiple histologies. The researchers presented extended follow-up data at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Hospitalization following hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can lead to significant psychologic distress for patients. Researchers assessed the impact of an inpatient palliative care intervention on patient reported quality-of-life (QOL), mood, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) six months post-HCT. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed (PSR) serous ovarian cancer (SOC) have poor survival outcomes, with the median progression-free survival (PFS) after chemotherapy less than six months in many patients. Based on results from the SOLO2 study that found that maintenance olaparib after response to chemotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in PFS compared to placebo (median PFS = 19.1 versus 5.5 months) in patients with germline BRCA mutation PSR SOC (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.22–0.41; p < 0.0001), researchers assessed the impact of health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL). The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer survivors that focus on healthy body weight, physical activity, and a diet high in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. To assess how adherence to those guidelines impacts disease-free survival (DFS), relapse-free survival (RFS), or overall survival (OS), researchers conducted a prospective study of 992 patients with stage III colon cancer who enrolled in an adjuvant chemotherapy clinical trial between 1991 and 2001. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Women with high-risk endometrial cancer (EC) are at an increased risk of metastasis and death. The randomized, intergroup PORTEC-3 study assessed the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy during and after radiotherapy (RT) versus pelvic RT alone in this patient population. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.