Articles

In this month’s issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we bring you the news from the European Society for Medical Oncology 2012 Con­gress. Some of the most exciting news came from the update of the PROFILE 1007 trial, with results showing that crizotinib was more effective than standard chemo­therapy with pemetrexed or doce­taxel as a second-line treatment for non–small cell lung cancer. We also cover the latest treatment information about pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, which, as one presenter noted, is “not a rare disease any longer.” Read More ›

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved omacetaxine mepesuccinate subcutaneous injection (Synribo, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with resistance and/or intolerance to 2 or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Read More ›

Single-agent doxorubicin remains the standard of care as first-line treatment for unresectable or metastatic soft tissue sarcomas, according to results of a phase 3 trial conducted by EORTC and presented at the Presidential Symposium during the ESMO 2012 Congress (Abstract LBA7). Read More ›

The addition of an investigational hypoxia-targeted agent, TH-302, to gemcitabine improved overall survival (OS) versus gemcitabine alone in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer in an open-label phase 2b trial (Abstract 6660). Read More ›

The major barriers to implementing adequate pain control for cancer patients on a global scale are restrictive government regulations and lack of access to supplies of morphine. Individual countries may lack morphine suppliers, and regulations in countries where morphine is available may prevent doctors from prescribing doses strong enough to alleviate pain and suffering. Read More ›

Identifying agents that can prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a work in progress. Studies of some interventions suggest modestly encouraging findings, but research on prevention has been hampered by a poor understanding of the different mechanisms of this toxic­ity with the various chemotherapy agents that induce CIPN. Read More ›

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are often asked to provide some form of documentation to help certify their patients’ medical conditions. To protect patient privacy, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) significantly restricts both the type of information that can be disclosed and the categories of recipients that can receive it. Read More ›

Three commonly used radiological tests rarely detect metastases in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and should not be routinely performed, according to a comprehensive literature review presented at the American Society of Clinical On­cology (ASCO) 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium, held in San Francisco, California. Read More ›

Expanded utility of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) (Onco­type DX) was shown in a retrospective analysis reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium by investigators from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). Read More ›

Only 4.8% of Web sites describing prostate cancer were written at the National Institutes of Health recommended reading level. Read More ›