From The Editors June 2021

TON - June 2021 Vol 14, No 3

In the June issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we feature a selection of articles aimed at helping our readers stay informed on important issues relevant to nurses, navigators, and advanced practice providers as they care for patients with cancer.

This issue begins with an interview with Paula Sanborn, MS, APRN, FNP-C, CPHON, ONN-CG, a nurse practitioner at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. In this article, Ms Sanborn shares her experience as a member of the hospital’s sarcoma team and discusses some of the unique challenges facing adolescents and young adults with cancer (see here).

“Navigating the cancer world can be very difficult for the AYA population. They are in a time of life when they would normally grow and become more independent. Cancer can negatively affect them physically, emotionally, and financially,” she said.

We are also proud to announce a new feature in TON called “Sarlis Says,” written by Nicholas Sarlis, MD, PhD, FACP. As Chief Science Officer at The Lynx Group, LLC, Dr Sarlis will be providing his insights on topics that affect the delivery of high-quality oncology care. In this month’s article, he discusses recent progress in the biomarker arena, and its potential impact on the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies (see here).

As with every issue, you will also find highlights from recent oncology meetings, where experts discussed the latest findings from clinical trials that hold the promise for improving outcomes in patients with cancer.

In a noteworthy presentation during the virtual 2021 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, Vivek Subbiah, MD, presented interim results from the phase 1/2 LIBRETTO-001 trial, which showed encouraging activity with selpercatinib in a range of RET fusion−positive tumors (see here).

“These results underscore the importance of broad-based genomic profiling. It is essential to identify oncogenic drivers, including RET fusions,” he said during his presentation.

During the virtual National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2021 Annual Conference, a panel of experts discussed strategies for helping patients and healthcare workers overcome various challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including delayed and missed cancer screenings (see here).

“We are nowhere near where we want to be,” said Kim Slusser, MSN, RN, CHPN, NEA-BC. “The issue is backlog. We are trying to extend hours, but this is challenging for staffing across the board.”

We also provide readers with an overview of the new drugs and new indications approved by the FDA.

As always, we hope that you will enjoy this issue of TON, and we invite you to visit www.TheOncologyNurse.com to share your feedback with us. You can also send an e-mail with any questions or comments you may have to info@TheOncologyNurse.com.

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