FDA Approves Belumosudil for Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease
On July 16, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved belumosudil (RezurockTM), a kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease (chronic GVHD) in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy.
Biden-Harris Administration Issues Actions to Prevent Surprise Billing
In July 2021, the Biden-Harris administration, through the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management, issued the Requirements Related to Surprise Billing interim final rule to restrict surprise billing. The rule applies to billing for patients in job-based and individual health plans who obtain emergency care, nonemergency care from out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, and air ambulance services from out-of-network providers.
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Meet Your ONS Leader: Valerie Burger
Get to know Valerie Burger, RN, MA, MS, OCN®, CPN, treasurer for the ONS Board of Directors from 2021–2023 and director-at-large from 2021–2024. Burger is an assistant vice president of cancer services from Bellmore, NY.
Diagnose and Treat Hypercalcemia of Malignancy
Hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) is a common paraneoplastic syndrome associated with poor prognosis that affects approximately 20%–30% of patients with cancer. It’s most often seen in patients with breast, lung, renal, or ovarian cancers; squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; multiple myeloma; and certain lymphomas.
New Evidence-Based Practice Learning Library Now Available
Nurses and other healthcare providers at the point of care use evidence-based practice techniques to ask and answer clinically relevant questions to promote quality, safety, and improved patient outcomes. Evidence-based practice is the process of shared decision-making that incorporates the best available evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences and values.
Long-Term irAEs From Checkpoint Inhibitors Have Considerations for Survivorship
More than 40% of patients with melanoma treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab experience persistent long-term immune-related adverse events (irAEs) for at least 1.5 years, researchers reported in JAMA Oncology.
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Nurse Researcher AIMS to Increase Screening for Malnutrition and Reduce Bowel Dysfunction
Research has identified an association between malnutrition and functional deficits in patients with cancer, regardless of age, and other studies confirm that malnutrition affects treatment tolerability, outcomes, and quality of life for patients with cancer. However, studies have also found that oncology clinicians do not consistently assess for malnutrition and functional deficits in clinical settings.
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The Evidence Is Building for ACE Inhibitors in Anthracycline-Associated Cardiotoxicity
Cardiac toxicities are associated with many types of cancer therapies, with both length of and time since treatment increasing a patient’s risk for the adverse event. Anthracycline chemotherapies are among the oldest agents still used for a variety of cancer diagnoses, and as cancer survivorship continues to grow, more patients are presenting with late-onset cardiac complications.
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FDA Approves Daratumumab and Hyaluronidase-Fihj With Pomalidomide and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma
On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (Darzalex Faspro®) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy, including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
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Leadership, Goals, and Missions Drive ONS’s Work
May annually marks a celebration of oncology nurses, and during its May 25, 2021, meeting, the ONS Board of Directors did just that: it welcomed and celebrated new members Valerie Burger, RN, MA, MS, OCN®, CPN, Danya Garner, MSN, RN, OCN®, CCRN-K, NPD-BC, and Patricia Geddie, PhD, APRN, AOCNS®, FCNS, and conducted an ice breaker to learn more about each other. Highlights from the decisions, updates, and other Board actions from that meeting follow.