News

In patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), high doses of curcumin and vitamin D could help stabilize the disease, according to new research presented at the 2018 American Society of Hematology’s Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting the tyrosine kinase receptor ROR1 can be transferred into patients safely and the cells expand in vivo, according to first in-human study of CAR T cells in patients with solid tumors.

Women between the ages of 30 and 39 who have at least 1 of 3 breast cancer risk factors may benefit from starting their annual mammography screening at age 30, according to results from a large-scale study that was presented at the 2018 Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting.

Early-stage breast cancer survivors who completed a telephone-based lifestyle intervention program tended to have higher rates of disease-free survival (DFS), according to recent research presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

The FDA approved tagraxofusp-erzs (Elzonris) infusion for the treatment of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) in adults and in pediatric patients aged 2 or older.

The Food and Drug Administration approved calaspargase pegol-mknl (Asparlas) as a component of a chemotherapy regimen to treat adult and pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to the agency.

The FDA has approved olaparib (Lynparza) as a maintenance treatment for patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic BRCA-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy, as approved by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic assay.

The FDA has granted an accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma in adult and children.

Improvements observed in progression-free survival and overall survival with the addition of first-line atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) or inoperable locally advanced TNBC are exclusive to those patients with PD-L1 expression ≥1% in immune cells, according to a biomarker subgroup analysis of the phase III IMpassion130 study.1

Julie Pederson, BSW, RN, OCN, CBCN, provides an overview of developments in research on lymphedema treatments.

The FDA has approved trastuzumab-pkrb (Herzuma, Celltrion) as a biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech).

Delayed treatment with chemotherapy of more than 30 days after surgery for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with worse survival rates and outcomes than those who receive adjuvant chemotherapy within 30 days of their procedure, according to findings from a retrospective study performed in Peru presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

Oncology nurses must not only be aware of the adverse events (AEs) of immunotherapy, but they must also educate their patients—and their other healthcare providers—to recognize them as well, according to Massey Nematollahi, MScN, RN, CNS, OCN, CON.

Oxybutynin helped to improve quality of life among women who could not take hormone replacement therapy in survivorship by reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.

Treatment with luspatercept significantly reduced the need for frequent red blood cell transfusions in nearly 53% of patients with anemia associated with low- to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), according to results from the phase III Medalist trial presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting.

Lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; JCAR017) appeared tolerable and induced an 81.3% best overall response rate and 43.8% complete response rate in heavily pretreated, high-risk patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who previously received ibrutinib (Imbruvica), according to dose-finding results of a small phase I/II trial.

Funds matched by Bristol-Myers Squibb for a total of $1.3 Million to be used for Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Hematologists may have the ability to determine acute myeloid leukemia (AML) subtype based on genetic analysis of blood samples in 7 days or less, a process that could soon be an integral part of diagnosing and treating this patient population, according to Amy Burd, PhD.

Receiving a stem cell transplant for the first time following CD19 CAR T-cell therapy induced a reduction in the risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) recurrence, according to a retrospective analysis of the phase I/II PLAT-02 study.1

The FDA has approved the combination of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), bevacizumab (Avastin), carboplatin, and paclitaxel (ABCP) for the frontline treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This indication excludes patients with EGFR/ALK aberrations.

The triplet of daratumumab (Darzalex), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (DRd) reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 44% compared with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone (Rd) in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who were not candidates for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplant.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in combination with carboplatin and etoposide for the first-line treatment of patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).

Here are the top 5 Oncology Nursing News stories for November 2018.

To receive payment for counseling and increase access to services, a new bill has been introduced so that genetic counselors receive payment for counseling Medicare beneficiaries.

ACCC worked closely with a team of multispecialty thought leaders via the IO Institute Working Groups to develop forward-thinking resources at the intersection of clinical science, care delivery, business, operations, and policy to support all facets of immunotherapy integration.

The acceptance of next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) have enabled oncologists to more specifically target genetic mutations in the treatment of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to Benjamin P. Levy, MD.

The FDA has approved gilteritinib for the treatment of adult patients with FLT3 mutation–positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

The FDA has approved the first rituximab (Rituxan) biosimilar, CT-P10 (Truxima; rituximab-abbs), for the treatment of adult patients with CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy.

Because of the risk for developing secondary malignancies, and given the association between smoking and cancer, all patients who smoke should be counseled about quitting, according to Linda Sarna, PhD, RN, FAAN.