From the Editor

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The October 1, 2012, presidential proclamation acknowledging this points out that “Breast cancer touches the lives of Americans from every background and in every community across our Nation.” The proclamation states that during this month “we honor those we have lost, lend our strength to those who carry on the fight, and pledge to educate ourselves and our loved ones about this tragic disease.”

We at The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON) recognize all that you do to educate and treat those who have breast cancer or who are at risk of developing breast cancer. This month, we’re highlighting news about breast cancer and its treatment as we strive to bring you information that you can use.

With all the news coming from the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium, we present our summary of highlights of interest to TON readers. These studies help us keep current about the status of some of the latest research. We also give you an update about the BOLERO-2 trial, with results reporting continued benefit of everolimus in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

We tell you about a breast cancer survivorship clinic at the Duke Cancer Center. Two oncology nurse researchers, Kathy J. Trotter, DNP, CNM, FNP-C, and Susan M. Schneider, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN, described how this program works in a presentation at the Breast Cancer Symposium.
Cristi Radford, in her genetic counseling column, provides information about the genetic contribution to breast cancer, which, like other cancers, is often classified as sporadic, familial, and hereditary. She points out that up to 30% of breast cancer cases may have an underlying inherited risk and explains what is currently known about the risks conveyed by the underlying gene mutation(s).

As always, we hope the information in this issue benefits your practice. Let us know what you think. Please contact us at editorial@greenhillhc.com.