Educating Patients on the Intersection of Cancer Subtypes and DEI

Informing patients how a cancer subtype may affect them is crucial to personalizing care, says expert Jessie Desir, PhD, RN, AMB-BC, OCN, who spoke with Oncology Nursing News.

Because cancer subtypes can affect different populations more heavily than others, being aware of those differences is key in providing the best care for patients, said Desir. With recent updates in the breast cancer landscape, it is essential that oncology nurses and advanced practice providers (APPs) have a baseline of understanding of these subtypes to choose the best treatment paths for each patient.

Additionally, it is in the hands of oncology nurses and APPs to educate patients about how subtypes may affect a certain population more than another. Desir added that having that information can make both the patient and the nurse or APP feel empowered in making treatment decisions.

Transcript

It is very important to address the different subtypes of breast cancer, especially when we're thinking about nurses really playing that crucial role in ensuring all patients’ diversity, equity, inclusion, and different subtypes, as we know, may impact different populations more than others.

So educating on the different subtypes, not every woman—and I should also include a minority of men that we do know—and understanding where these different populations may fit.

And again, it's very important that we educate the population. And when nurses are educated on the different subtypes of breast cancer, then we can also—we feel empowered. And now we can empower the patients to get educated and really make the decision that is best, you know, fitting for them and their treatment to come.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.