Nurses Will Forge New Territory With Biosimilars in Cancer Care
Although cancer biosimilars have been used in European countries and in U.S. supportive care for some time, biologic medications are still new to cancer treatment in the United States. With greater support coming in at the federal level and from agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission, the rising biosimilar tide could soon reach a new highwater mark for healthcare professionals—and nurses specifically.
How We’re Growing Nursing’s Voice in the Health News Media
The Woodhull Study on Nurses and the Media: Health Care’s Invisible Partner showed that nurses were quoted in only 4% of health stories in the news media. In 2018, Mason and team published the Woodhull Study Revisited: Nurses’ Representation in Health News Media 20 Years Later. They found that after two decades, only 2% of health stories in the news media quoted nurses; although not statistically significant, the decrease is still a concern. The 1998 study identified that nurses were just starting to move into positions of authority in healthcare systems, a status that might make them more available for journalists. Yet in 2018, nurses occupied more healthcare leadership positions in diverse sectors but were still not being used as expert sources by journalists. Why?
Women With Diabetes Are Less Likely to Get Cancer Screenings
Modest differences may exist among women with diabetes compared to healthy controls when it comes to adhering to screening recommendations for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers, according to results of a study published in Diabetologia.
Cardio-Oncology Program Monitors Heart Toxicities Throughout Survivorship
Cancer is second only to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States. But heart conditions overlap with cancer in more ways than mortality. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, and the myriad medication combinations used in cancer can lead to various complications, including cardiotoxic side effects. Because of the prevalence of heart disease, many patients with cancer also present with pre-existing cardiac comorbidities.
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Immune-Related Adverse Events With PD-1 Inhibitors in Head and Neck Cancer
Clinical trial results show that PD-1 inhibitors offer improved survival and a better safety profile compared to standard, single-agent chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. However, because of their mechanism of action as immunotherapy, patients receiving the agents may experience immune-related adverse events (irAEs).
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Nurses Are Central to Lung Cancer Screening Conversations
Participation in clinician and patient conversations about lung cancer screening—as well as the actual screening itself—is relatively low. According to one study, only 3.9% of screening-
eligible patients had undergone lung cancer screening. Because the screening recommendations are newer, most patients are unaware that they exist, and research highlights that only 10%–12% of the patient population has had conversations with their clinicians about it.
Health Care at Iowa Caucus; FDA Biologic Market; Flavored E-Cigarette Pod Ban
The Iowa Democratic Caucus did not go as smoothly as the political prognosticators expected. Most news outlets are only reporting the level of dysfunction with a voting app that delayed the final numbers significantly, but beneath that is one truth that still rings true: Americans want solutions to their healthcare problems. Health care remained the number one policy issue for 41% of caucus attendees, an astoundingly high rate that beat every other issue handedly.
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Meet Your ONS Leader: Julie Painter, MSN, RN, AOCNS®, OCN®
Get to know Julie Painter, MSN, RN, AOCNS®, OCN®, director-at-large on the ONS Board of Directors from 2017–2020. Julie is a clinical nurse specialist/nurse practitioner at the Community Hospital of Indianapolis in Indiana.
Ovarian Cancer: Prevention, Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Recommendations
Even though its incidence is less common, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death from cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society. It also estimated more than 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer in 2019, with a five-year survival of 47% for all stages.
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Blood Test May Show Earliest Warning of Breast Cancer
Identifying a panel of tumor-associated antigens and autoantibodies through a simple blood test may one day help providers diagnose the earliest stages of breast cancer, before clinical signs appear.