Hannah West

ONS, Others Call for Oncology Center of Excellence; Biden Announces Moonshot Database; ONS Comments on MACRA EHR Sharing

ONS, Others Call for Oncology Center of Excellence

ONS, as part of the Friends of Cancer Research organization, submitted a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detailing the need for an oncology center of excellence. The center would focus on updating and streamlining many of the existing FDA standards to refocus the resources to complement the treatment of cancer in the modern medical landscape.

NCI Tool Helps Clinicians Collect Patient-Reported Outcomes and Adverse Event Information

During a session presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting that discussed the benefits and challenges of assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in the era of precision medicine and the integration of PROs into clinical trial data and regulatory reviews, ONS member Sandra A. Mitchell, PhD, CRNP, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), presented the NCI’s PRO version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) measurement system.

Manage Common Ocular Toxicities From Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Alopecia, rash, peripheral neuropathy: it’s a well-known fact that systemic cancer therapies often damage healthy tissues while fighting cancer cells. However, ocular toxicity from newer molecularly targeted cancer agents such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is generally underestimated and under-reported.

Protein May Offer Drug Target for Pancreatic and Other Cancers

Renalase, a protein that researchers have found is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, may be a new key to treating the disease. The findings were reported in Scientific Reports.

Incorporating Advanced Practitioners Into Team-Based Oncology Care

During a session presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting that discussed team-based oncology care, ONS member Wendy H. Vogel, MSN, FNP, AOCNP®, an oncology nurse practitioner at Wellmont Cancer Institute in Kingsport, TN, discussed how advanced practice providers can be involved in the care team process.

Vaccine for Metastatic Melanoma Demonstrates Encouraging Five-Year Overall Survival

In previous studies of CLBS20—a patient-specific therapeutic vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells loaded with antigens from irradiated cells from an autologous tumor cell line—the vaccine was associated with a 72% two-year overall survival (OS), with the most common toxicities including mild local injection site reactions. A recent study provided long-term survival data for patients treated with CLBS20. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

RN-Led Disease Management Intervention Decreases Time to Treatment for Veterans With Cancer

In 2008, a disease management program was initiated at the Hudson Valley Veterans Health Care System in Montrose, NY, in an effort to decrease time to diagnosis and/or treatment for veterans with newly diagnosed cancer. Administrators at the health system chose the disease case management team model as a potentially useful solution to enhance and expedite healthcare delivery for this patient population. The researchers presented the study at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Improve Management of Common Symptoms for Breast Cancer Survivors

During a session presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting exploring breast cancer survivorship, ONS member Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, AOCN®, FAAN, a professor at the University of Michigan, discussed how effective management of symptoms can improve rates of adherence to therapy.

Analysis Finds Nurse Practitioner-Led Survivorship Programs Adhere to IOM Guidelines for Care

A variety of survivorship care models have been developed internationally, but data comparing the different plans are limited. A retrospective analysis assessed the concordance of care plans for adult cancer survivors in nurse practitioner (NP)-led clinics with Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines for comprehensive survivorship care. The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.
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