Participants in ONS’s Fourth Annual Capitol Hill Days quickly saw the fruits of their efforts when two ONS priority bills were passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in October 2019. The yearly advocacy, education, and training event, held September 22–24, brought 110 ONS activists to Washington, DC, for two days of sessions, briefings, updates, and meetings. The advocates engaged in 55 hours of intensive political and policy analysis, enabling them to take the Society’s health policy priority agenda to the U.S.
Bioengineers may have found a way to use tamoxifen activated with blue light to control precisely which tissues and body areas CAR T cells attack, reducing toxicities in other parts of the body. They reported their work in ACS Synthetic Biology.
On December 16, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi®) for patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer.
Jamie is completing her last cycle of carboplatin and paclitaxel for stage I ovarian cancer. The oncology infusion nurse notices that Jamie appears withdrawn and nervous, so he takes time to ask her how she is feeling about completing treatment. Jamie responds, “I feel as frightened about finishing treatment as I did when I was diagnosed with cancer.” She also shares that she doesn’t want to ring the cancer center’s bell to ceremoniously signify the end of her treatment because she doesn’t want to “jinx it.”
The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019, otherwise known as H.R. 3, is a top priority for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). But she’s facing challenges from progressive Democrats on her left more so than the conservative Senate on her right. Watering down provisions in H.R. 3 too much will lose her the votes she needs to pass the bill in the House, but passing a bill that’s too overarching or progressive will allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to refuse to take up the legislation at all.
For more than 35 years, the Oncology Nursing Foundation has been devoted to supporting cancer nursing excellence. To steward those efforts in the years to come, the Foundation welcomes Anizia Karmazyn as its new executive director. Karmazyn will work with Foundation Board of Trustees, Linda Worrall, RN, MSN, the Foundation’s director of grants and program, and other Foundation staff to Increase support for oncology nursing education, research, and leadership development.
After busy Thanksgiving get-togethers and frantic Black Friday, Small-Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday shopping, many people take a moment to reflect and give back to a cause that captures their passion. Dubbed Giving Tuesday, it’s a day dedicated to philanthropy and fundraising. For the first time ever, the Oncology Nursing Foundation issued a Giving Tuesday challenge to ONS chapters—a friendly competition to see which group could get the highest percentage of its membership to donate to the continued growth and excellence of oncology nursing.
Already the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a continually growing burden as the incidence of obesity, type II diabetes, and hypertension also increase, which may lead to cirrhosis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Its incidence is highest in Asia and Africa, where the prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C may result in chronic liver disease and subsequently HCC.
Incidence of melanoma in the head and neck areas increased 51.1% from 1995 to 2014, according to findings from a study published in JAMA Otolaryngology.