Proposed Bill Would Reimburse Providers for Creating Survivorship Plans for Patients with Medicare
April 13th 2018Two congressmen, who are also cancer survivors, proposed the Cancer Care Planning and Communications (CCPC) Act, which would create a Medicare billing code that would reimburse providers for their time and resources used to create survivorship care plans for patients with Medicare.
Oncology Nurses Address Knowledge Gap in Palliative Care for Advanced Lung Cancer
April 13th 2018The American Society for Radiation Oncology released an updated guideline which states that some patients with incurable non-small cell lung cancer should receive concurrent chemotherapy along with palliative thoracic radiation therapy.
Pivot Nurse Role Improves Satisfaction, Quality of Life in Patients with Lung Cancer
April 12th 2018The Pivot Nurse in Oncology (PNO) role appears to make a substantial difference in care for patients being treated for advanced lung cancer, according to a study presented at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2018.
FDA Grants Priority Review to Duvelisib for Lymphoma Subtypes
April 10th 2018The FDA has granted a priority review to duvelisib for a full approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) and an accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.
FDA Grants Dacomitinib Priority Review for Frontline EGFR+ NSCLC
April 7th 2018The FDA has granted a priority review designation to dacomitinib for the frontline treatment of patients with EGFR-positive locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to Pfizer, the manufacturer of the pan-human EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).
FDA Approves Rubraca for Ovarian Cancer Maintenance Treatment
April 6th 2018The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rubraca (rucaparib) as a maintenance therapy for women with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy, according to Clovis Oncology, the company that manufactures the drug.
FDA Grants Moxetumomab Pasudotox Priority Review for Hairy Cell Leukemia
April 6th 2018The FDA has granted a priority review to moxetumomab pasudotox for the treatment of adult patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who have received at least 2 prior lines of therapy, according to AstraZeneca (MedImmune), the developer of the anti-CD22 recombinant immunotoxin.
Diets Rich in Nuts Improve Survival Rates in Patients with Colon Cancer
April 5th 2018Patients with stage III colon cancer who ate at least 2 servings of nuts per week had superior disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), according to results from the CALGB 8903 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Patient Satisfaction Still High After Drop in Post-Surgery Opioid Prescriptions
March 31st 2018Despite initial thoughts that patients would be dissatisfied, a new “ultra-restrictive” opioid prescription protocol for gynecologic surgery led to an 89% reduction in the number of opioid tablets dispensed and a high rate of patient satisfaction.
FDA Grants Breakthrough Designation to Enfortumab Vedotin for Treatment of Urothelial Carcinoma
March 28th 2018The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to enfortumab vedotin to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who previously received immune checkpoint therapy.
FDA Grants Priority Review to Nivolumab/Ipilimumab for Subgroup of Patients With Colorectal Cancer
March 27th 2018The FDA has granted a priority review to the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) following progression on a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
Older Adults with Cancer and Diabetes May Require More Patient Education to Prevent ED Visits
March 26th 2018Emergency department (ED) visits are more common among older adults with diabetes. Oncology nurses need to be alert to patients with cancer who also have diabetes, and make sure they have the information they need to prevent unnecessary ED visits.
FDA Approves Nilotinib for Pediatric Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
March 22nd 2018Nilotinib (Tasigna) was approved by the FDA for the first- and second-line treatment of pediatric patients aged 1 year and older with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase (Ph+ CML-CP).
Nurses Play Critical Role in New Dosing Regimen for Nivolumab
March 20th 2018While the new FDA approval of 4-week dosing adds more flexibility in scheduling, it reduces the number of times patients would be monitored in person for adverse effects (AEs), so nurses need to be alert to and educated about potential AEs.