Although it’s one of the less visible commissions, the President’s Cancer Panel monitors the activities of the National Cancer Program and reports on the burden of cancer. The panel reviews a number of topics and keeps current with demographic information and the latest cancer incidence research. After reviewing and recommending based on existing data, the panel releases a formal report to the president. In its most recent report, the panel found serious issues with barriers to access for cancer survivors, and it addressed the costs of drugs and the value therein.

Focusing on a patient’s quality of life is often a key component to their successful cancer journey. Treating their disease is crucial, but patients have to be recognized as individuals with unique and varying needs. Addressing their emotional, physical, spiritual, and psychosocial stressors can help provide holistic treatment that’s at the heart of successful oncology care.

Patients’ weight and nutrition status will often vary throughout the cancer care continuum. Weight loss might occur before the diagnosis, be one of the presenting cancer symptoms, be related to the tumor itself, or be secondary to side effects of their treatment (e.g., anorexia from chemotherapy or radiation). 

Nursing is often referred to as both an art and a science. Evidence-based practitioners must combine understanding the science of health, illness, and disease with the art of adapting care to individual patients and situations, all while thinking critically to improve patient outcomes.

In bedrooms across the United States, people are crawling into bed, turning down the lights, and lying awake for hours on end. Sleep-wake disturbances and short sleep duration are extremely common, and rates are even higher in patients with cancer. Unfortunately, screening, assessment, and interventions are lacking for patients experiencing sleep-wake disturbances during their cancer journey.

Music has historically been associated with health and healing in cultures around the world. As a therapeutic intervention in patients with cancer, it is used to address physical and psychological symptoms. The sessions are tailored to meet patients’ individual needs and abilities and can involve listening to, writing, performing, or discussing music and lyrics, guided by a trained therapist. Although music does not affect the disease itself, it produces more immediate effects compared to pharmacologic agents, has a positive impact on mood, and strengthens patients’ ability to cope.

Raj recently presented to the emergency department for hemoptysis and shortness of breath. Subsequent computed tomography scan and biopsy reveal metastatic small cell lung cancer. He is a 62-year-old former smoker who is 25 pounds overweight and works as an accountant for a large automobile dealership.

Do you consider sleep to be part of your self-care regimen? Does a spinning wheel of thoughts keep you from restful sleep, or do you consciously sacrifice sleep time? If so, you are not alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic with an estimated 25% of the United States population suffering from some type of sleep disturbance.

Listening to feedback from patients is still one of the most important ways providers can assess and plan treatments for patients with cancer. However, symptom management is never as simple as screening for pain or asking about fatigue: it involves complex decision making, evidence-based interventions, and the support of the entire care team. It’s a central practice to oncology nursing, and it’s paramount to the successful outcomes of patients with cancer.

Mushrooms have been valued for their health-promoting and medicinal effects for thousands of years. Research over the past few decades has focused on maitake (Grifola frondosa), reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), coriolus (Coriolus versicolor), shiitake (Lentinula edodes), and agaricus (Agaricus blazei), which are predominantly used in Asia.

Despite having healthcare coverage, a third of patients with cancer end up paying more out of pocket than they expected for their cancer treatments, a new study found. The results were published in JAMA Oncology.

Until the 1980s, the value of exercise was unrecognized in the oncology setting. It was widely believed that patients with cancer undergoing cytotoxic treatments needed to rest and avoid exercise. But a 1989 study conducted by Winningham and Mac Vicar, both oncology nurses at the Ohio State University, dispelled this notion. The trial involved 45 women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer and showed that a 10-week interval-based, aerobic exercise was not only safe but also significantly improved body composition, aerobic capacity, and patient-reported nausea.

Advanced practice oncology nurses know how complex the care of patients with cancer can be. Every day seems to bring further advancements in the treatment and management of cancer. It can be difficult to keep up with the onslaught of new information, but our patients rely on us to bring them the latest, greatest, and safest treatment options available.

I arrived at work on Tuesday morning to find my charge nurse handing out blue ribbons, beads, and bracelets to staff.

"March is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month,” she said. “Put on the blue, we're promoting awareness and encouraging people to get their screenings!" I stared at some of my coworkers with ribbons tied neatly in their hair.

It’s important to know that I routinely have to field the question, "Are you sure you're old enough to be a nurse?" I had a feeling the ribbon wasn't going to help my credibility. This was also my second day of caring for a patient struggling to cope in a very tough fight against colon cancer. Would she mind? Would it be insensitive?

An ancient form of bodywork that encompasses hands-on manipulation of muscles and soft tissues, massage increases circulation, reduces muscular tension and promotes relaxation. It also produces emotional and psychological benefits.

My husband is a gerontologist. My oldest daughter is an RN working with acutely ill elderly patients at a busy academic medical center. They both know that living to 90 or 100 years old is becoming the norm. They’ll also tell you that the habits formed throughout a lifetime can make a big difference in the quality of life as one gets older.

Jessica is preparing discharge teaching for Marty, a 63-year-old woman with stage IIIB high-grade serous ovarian cancer. During the discussion, Marty asks Jessica why such harsh treatment is being recommended when targeted therapies can kill cancer without destroying the immune system and causing any severe side effects.

As the complexity of cancer treatment plans evolves, radiotherapy continues to be an integral part of many antineoplastic regimens. Not only is radiotherapy used as definitive treatment for malignant conditions, but it is also commonly used to improve the effects of surgery or chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings or as part of a combination regimen.

Frank, a 74-year-old man, was referred to the oncology clinic for workup on a suspicious lung nodule. Frank tells Justin, the oncology nurse, that he blames himself for smoking “all these years.” He also reports that up until nine months ago, he played 18 holes of golf twice a week, but “now I just don’t have the stamina.”

Patients with advanced cancer often visit the emergency department to seek treatment for acute, distressing symptoms. Researchers conducting a new study have found that initiating palliative care during those visits leads to improved quality of life and does not shorten survival. The findings were published in JAMA Oncology.