The explosion of telehealth transitioned many aspects of cancer care to patients and caregivers as home-based options. However, as with any shift in procedure, disconnecting their own pumps requires additional preparation and processes. Two oncology nurses share how they set up systems to support safe home care for pump disconnection ..read more

Once abandoned because of dose-limiting toxicities, a novel chemotherapy drug is showing even more promise as a modified prodrug. In study results published in Science Advances, researchers demonstrated how turning DRP-104 into a prodrug enables it to kill more tumor cells and activate CD8+ T cells with a “markedly improved tolerability profile ..read more

Overall survival among patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are treated with adjuvant gemcitabine and docetaxel is comparable to overall survival for treatment with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), researchers reported in the Journal of Urology. The evidence could support a treatment alternative for high-risk patients during the BCG shortage ..read more

High levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein before chemotherapy for breast cancer may predict a patient’s propensity to develop clinical decline and frailty after treatment, according to study findings that researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology ..read more

Clinicians and researchers know little about the mechanisms for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a side effect of neurotoxic agents that can cause numbness, tingling, and pain in the upper and lower extremities. Until recently, mechanism-based treatment was difficult, but biomarkers are helping nurse scientists identify a potential connection to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis ..read more

Biologic agents or chemotherapies can trigger hypersensitivity reactions, which occur when a patient’s immune system identifies an agent as an antigen and initiates a complex reaction involving sensitization of T lymphocytes and macrophages, production of antibodies, and release of histamine. Developing and implementing a hypersensitivity kit containing all necessary medications and associated protocols allows nurses to immediately implement management when reactions occur ..read more

Medication administration is a high-risk process that requires critical thinking, efficient decision-making, attention to detail, and a foundational knowledge of basic pharmacology. The process is not a single task but a cascade of events that include handling, ordering, preparing, dispensing, administering, and monitoring. Although nurses’ involvement varies at each phase, the risk for errors always exists, and consequences can have a lifelong impact on patients, families, and healthcare workers. Nurses can use the following strategies in their responsibility as the last line of defense for s ..read more

Scalp cooling, also known as cryotherapy, may reduce the risk of chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) in patients with cancer, but how do you know if the therapy is right for your patients? According to speakers at an ONS BridgeTM virtual conference session on September 9, 2021, start with the evidence ..read more

Cardiac toxicities are associated with many types of cancer therapies, with both length of and time since treatment increasing a patient’s risk for the adverse event. Anthracycline chemotherapies are among the oldest agents still used for a variety of cancer diagnoses, and as cancer survivorship continues to grow, more patients are presenting with late-onset cardiac complications ..read more

Sofia is a 35-year-old patient who identifies as female who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is concerned with experiencing chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) as an adverse event from treatment. She comes in for her first infusion of adriamycin plus cyclophosphamide and is using scalp cooling to prevent hair loss. She works as a project manager, which requires her to keep her camera on for her many daily video calls. She is very anxious about losing her hair and asks you if taking minoxidil in addition to the scalp cooling treatment would guarantee she maintains her hair.  ..read more