Median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are lower in transgender women receiving estrogen than comparable cisgender men without a prostate cancer diagnosis, researchers reported in study findings published in JAMA, possibly because of the gender-affirming therapy’s castrating effects. The finding raises questions about the utility of PSA testing for transgender women with intact prostates.

Among the taxanes currently approved for breast cancer treatment, docetaxel is the preferred agent for Black patients with breast cancer, researchers concluded in study findings presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. In a study that only enrolled Black patients with breast cancer, the researchers found that docetaxel was associated with the lowest risk for taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy, a dose-limiting adverse event that typically occurs more frequently in Black individuals.

“The current body of research inadequately addresses the intersection of aging, health disparities, and cancer outcomes among older adults, highlighting the imperative for heightened attention, enhanced infrastructure, and collaborative efforts to fill this critical gap,” a team of expert investigators from across the United States reported in a scoping review published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

More than 7% of patients participate in cancer clinical research trials, a new study shows—higher than the 5% historically reported. The findings, which were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, are the first to use national accreditation information from the Commission on Cancer to more accurately estimate participation rates.

By coordinating and implementing cancer risk reduction strategies, promoting cascade testing, and promoting genetics-related cancer research, one institution’s new genetic cancer prevention clinic improved surveillance, additional testing, discovery of new pathogenic variants, and overall patient satisfaction, a team of oncology nurses and other healthcare professionals reported during a poster presentation at the 49th annual ONS Congress^® in April 2024.

By providing a centralized team of support staff—including research nurses, clinical research associates, and clinical data specialists—the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis said it hopes to remove the research staffing challenges many of its sites have experienced since the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency announced the launch of its pilot Virtual Clinical Trials Office program in February 2024.

As chemotherapy administration shifts from the inpatient to outpatient setting, inpatient nurses may have fewer opportunities to develop and retain high levels of chemotherapy competency in their practice. During a poster session on April 25, 2024, at the 49th Annual ONS Congress^®, ONS members Heather Askren, DNP, NP-C, RN, OCN^®, and Brittney Henady, BSN, RN, OCN^®, described how their institution standardized care and helped maintain nurse competency throughout the hospital by assigning inpatient RNs to quarterly shifts at the outpatient cancer center.

Today’s ever-evolving healthcare industry requires versatile, adaptable healthcare workers. To meet that need, some institutions are upskilling medical assistants (MAs) and transitioning them to more complex roles in ambulatory cancer clinics. In an April 25, 2024, poster presentation at the 49th Annual ONS Congress^®, ONS members Tara Delgrippo, RN, MSN, NE-BC, OCN^®, and Sarah Porzig, MSN, RN, OCN^®, described the process at their institution.

Efficient communication and care coordination are critical for high-quality patient care in ambulatory oncology settings. Electronic huddles, where the cancer team connects in a virtual space to share critical insights and make collective decisions about patient care, leverage technology to facilitate interprofessional communication and decision-making. During a poster presentation on April 25, 2024, at the 49th Annual ONS Congress^®, ONS members Tara Delgrippo, RN, MSN, NE-BC, OCN^®, and Sarah Porzig, MSN, RN, OCN^®, described how they implemented the innovative approach at their institution.

Remote verification methods through virtual care nurse models and telehealth technologies have merit, but the evidence is inadequate to determine safety or efficacy, according to the latest findings from a team of ONS members and staff that were published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.

In stark contrast to a nationwide decline, cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing in low-income U.S. counties, researchers reported in the International Journal of Cancer.

About 7% of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ+, but understanding cancer in this population is difficult because surveillance data are limited to national surveys on risk factors and screening, the American Cancer Society (ACS) observed in a special section of its Cancer Facts and Figures 2024 report on cancer in the LGBTQ+ community.

Cancer incidence is increasing throughout the United States, with an unprecedented 2 million new cancer cases predicted in 2024, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reported in Cancer Facts and Figures 2024.

Psychological distress in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) affects overall survival and quality of life, yet nurses have no standard of practice to follow for their psychological assessment, ONS members Brooke E. Trigiani, RN, MSN, OCN^®, and Carolee Polek, PhD, RN, AOCNS^®, BMTCN^®, reported in the February 2024 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.

Incidence rates of young-onset colorectal cancer (YO-CRC) in otherwise healthy individuals aged younger than 40 have increased 2% per year during the past four decades, and the trend is projected to continue for at least another 10 years. YO-CRC can have a significant psychological impact on adolescents and young adults (AYAs), and the population needs specialized nursing care.

Some young adult patients who receive fertility-sparing surgery for early-stage cervical cancer may be able to extend their follow-up intervals to 6 or even 12 months, researchers reported in study results published in Lancet Oncology.

Nivolumab with chemotherapy and pembrolizumab with enfortumab vedotin-ejfv, an antibody-drug conjugate, are superior to standard chemotherapy as initial treatment for patients with advanced bladder cancer, researchers reported in study results from the Checkmate-901 and EV-302 clinical trials. The studies represent major strides in treatment for advanced bladder cancer, which has not seen changes in standard initial therapy for many years.

Our gut microbiome—the diverse community of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotes such as fungi, that inhabit the gastrointestinal (GI) tract—can affect our entire body’s health. Most people’s microbiomes have a healthy balance of organisms that stay contained in the GI tract because of the lining’s tight epithelial cell junctions. But from the gut, bacteria are capable of generating a range of vitamins, synthesizing amino acids, and breaking down and metabolizing indigestible carbohydrates. And a growing body of evidence—including studies conducted by oncology nurse scientists—is uncovering how the gut microbiome can influence a patient’s response to cancer treatment and their overall outcomes.

One to two out of every 10,000 individuals who received computed tomography (CT) scans as a young patient will develop a hematologic cancer later in life, researchers reported in study findings published in Nature Medicine. The findings demonstrate the need for continued use of radiation protection for younger patients and careful consideration of risks and benefits of diagnostic testing.

Developing new scientific questions and cutting-edge analytical tools, promoting better research collaboration, and propelling new discoveries in treatment and care, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Childhood Cancer Data Initiative granted administrative supplements to fund eight new studies in December 2023.

An accomplished physician–scientist with a career dedicated to biomarker-driven research and practice surrounding the development, early detection, and treatment of kidney cancer, W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, took the helm as the National Cancer Institute (NCI) director in December 2023.

Nearly 65% of oncology advanced practice providers (APPs) say they want to have a larger role in clinical research. Although research has often been a part of the APP role in academic institutions, providers now have the potential to engage in its expansion into community practice settings. Here are some of the key contributions APPs can bring to community-based clinical research. 

Adding hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to interval cytoreductive surgery improves 10-year overall survival in patients with stage III epithelial ovarian cancer by nearly 40%, researchers reported in study findings published in Lancet Oncology. 

Black or Hispanic individuals, those who’ve received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and older individuals are more likely to experience lymphedema after breast cancer treatment with axillary lymph node dissection and radiation therapy, researchers reported in JAMA Oncology. 

A patient’s race and the neighborhood in which they live can meaningfully lower time to progression and overall survival for triple-negative metastatic breast cancer, oncology nurse researchers reported in the Oncology Nursing Forum. 

Committing $5.4 million to their first year of study, the Biden-Harris administration announced its inaugural cohort of 11 Cancer Moonshot scholars in August 2023. The White House said that the emerging leaders in cancer research and innovation will use the funding “to help change what is possible.”

Race-specific cellular and genomic characteristics in breast and breast cancer tissues may explain racial differences in breast cancer aggressiveness, blood vessel growth, tumor cell migration and metastasis, and the cancer pathways GLI1 and Notch, researchers said in study findings published in npj Breast Cancer. The findings may help guide the development of even more personalized treatments and address some aspects of cancer’s disparate burden on certain populations. 

Cellular therapy has revolutionized cancer treatments and outcomes for many patients, and it may one day revolutionize the management of certain side effects as well. According to study findings published in eBioMedicine, induced pluripotent stem cell transplantation may help reverse chemotherapy’s endocrine and reproductive effects on female infertility. 

After remaining largely stable from 2011–2019, cancer incidence rates dropped sharply in 2020 while mortality remained level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its 2023 U.S. Cancer Statistics report.

Pausing endocrine therapy to give breast cancer survivors an opportunity to attempt pregnancy does not increase their short-term recurrence rates, researchers reported in study findings presented at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Additionally, survivors’ conception rates are on par or higher than those among the general public.

Because of insufficient evidence, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF’s) 2023 skin cancer recommendations advise that “the balance of benefits and harms for visual skin examination by a clinician to screen for skin cancer in asymptomatic adolescents and adults cannot be determined.” For breast cancer, the USPSTF’s 2023 recommendation stated that all women should get screened every other year, starting at age 40.

Noting the complexity of the human brain and brain tumors, Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), discussed in an April 2023 blog post the findings from a NIH-funded research that may suggest novel nanoparticles can help bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver drugs to treat medulloblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer diagnosed in hundreds of children each year.

Personalizing cancer treatments through targeted drugs and customized doses can make strides in care for pediatric patients with cancer, cancer specialists said in the National Institutes of Health's News in Health.

Adding carboplatin to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer improves complete response, event-free survival, and overall survival, researchers reported in study findings presented in abstract GS5-01 during the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. 

Increases in early-stage lung cancer diagnoses with low-dose computed tomography screening have led to sustained improvements in survival rates more than 20 years later, researchers said while presenting their study findings at the 2022 Radiological Society of North America annual meeting.

Marking her first year at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Katrina Goddard, PhD, director of the NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, outlined a foundation of future research for DCCPS, priority research areas, and the impact of research on diverse populations in a December 2022 interview.

Most patients at high risk for developing pancreatic cancer whose disease was found while participating in a screening program were diagnosed with early-stage cancers, according to study findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In your day-to-day conversations with patients, colleagues, or even friends and family at home, are you merely hearing what others tell you or are you actively listening to them? When we actively listen to what someone is saying, we intreat curiosity about their words and the emotions they are communicating with their tone and body language. Active listening engages a whole-person connection, whereas passive listening relies on the brain’s ability to catch the main points of a conversation.

In a December 2022 statement, Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, National Cancer Institute director,  announced that she was diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and that her prognosis is favorable. She said she is enrolled in a clinical trial centered around her diagnosis to contribute to the cancer knowledge base and advance care.

Regular use of aspirin after an advanced colorectal cancer diagnosis may extend survival by as much as 14 months for patients with a healthy body mass index score prediagnosis compared to those with obese BMIs, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Overall cancer death rates continued to decline from 2015–2019 among men, women, children, adolescents, and young adults in every major racial and ethnic group, according to the October 2022 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Cancer Society, and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries jointly issue the report each year to monitor cancer trends across society.

Prescreening patients for immune-related adverse events during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors using text messaging may reduce the need for some in-person, preinfusion office visits, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. The approach may help decrease the burden of cancer care for both patients and providers.

Equalizing the quality of patient-provider communication for Black versus White patients is one way to reduce the systemic racial disparities prevalent in cancer care, researchers reported in study findings published in the November 2022 issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum. They identified critical opportunities for oncology nurses to improve interpersonal communication with Black patients. Nurses are key drivers to affecting change and cancer outcomes for all patients, they reported.

Compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts, most Hispanic patients with localized prostate cancer are nearly 20% more likely to have aggressive disease, but the risk varies based on their country of origin, researchers reported in study findings published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. Additionally, they found that the population faces disparities in access to care, with only approximately 60% receiving appropriate treatment.

Patients who engage in physical activity during or after cancer treatment are less fatigued and return to their usual daily activities faster than those who don’t exercise, researchers reported in JACC: CardioOncology. The benefit is highest among patients who are active during treatment but still pronounced for those who resume physical activity after completing treatment.

Regardless of residence, nearly 25% of patients with cancer overall miss at least 10% of the doses in their radiation treatment plans—but the implications on outcomes are far greater for patients living in rural areas than their urban counterparts, according to new research findings published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.

On December 16, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg (Adstiladrin®) for adult patients with high-risk, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin unresponsive, carcinoma in situ, non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer with or without papillary tumors.

Overall survival among patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are treated with adjuvant gemcitabine and docetaxel is comparable to overall survival for treatment with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), researchers reported in the Journal of Urology. The evidence could support a treatment alternative for high-risk patients during the BCG shortage.

Significant progress has been made with childhood cancer, especially with the efforts of Children's Oncology Group (COG), but some areas still need attention, Doug Hawkins, MD, COG chair, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded network of researchers and hospitals, explained in a September 2022 interview with NCI.

Patients with advanced cancer who met with community health workers between their regular cancer care appointments were less likely to require acute care and more likely to participate in advance care planning and receive mental health, palliative, and hospice care, according to study findings published in JAMA Oncology.