On February 16, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved osimertinib (Tagrisso^®) with platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (la/mNSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R variants, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

On February 15, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted traditional approval to tepotinib (Tepmetko^®) for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14–skipping alterations.

On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported Smiths Medical ASD Inc.’s recall of its Medfusion model 4000 syringe pump because of issues associated with earlier software versions that may affect the alarm system, the pump, the control screen, and other parts of the pump. If undetected issues are present in the device, the device has the potential to fail and delay, interrupt, or fail to deliver the therapy per the programmed setting.

You’ve accumulated the experience, practice hours, and NCPD, and now you’re ready to take the next step in your oncology nursing career and pursue OCN^® certification from the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC). But what about the test? If the idea of sitting for the exam fills you with fear, you’re not alone—studies show that nurses often experience moderate stress (42.1%) and mild to moderate anxiety (19.4%–25.1%) about taking tests. 

Regular symptom check-ins and early survivorship education with a nurse can improve breast cancer survivors’ quality of life, fear of recurrence, and mental health, as compared to standard physician follow-up, researchers reported in study results presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved irinotecan liposome (Onivyde^®) with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin, for the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Most patients who die from cancer do not use hospice at the time of their death, ONS member and oncology nurse researcher Dena D. Shore, PhD, RN, OCN^®, CNE, reported in an article published in the December 2023 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON). According to her literature review, cancer-related, ethnic and racial, and geographic disparities are frequently involved in delayed or nonuse of hospice care.

Although death rates have been falling 0.9% each year, cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), following accidents, suicide, and homicide. It is the leading cause of death from disease among AYAs assigned female at birth and second leading cause of death from disease for AYAs assigned male at birth. Approaching an AYA patient’s end of life can be difficult for patients, family, and the cancer care team, but oncology nurses can provide support for all involved.   

Menthol in cigarettes can make them more addictive. Public health experts say banning the sale of menthol cigarettes could save hundreds of thousands of lives, particularly among Black smokers. An estimated 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, according to federal statistics.

Infection with Clostridioides difficile (commonly referred to as C. diff; formerly Clostridium difficile) is an extreme example of a type of gut microbiome dysbiosis that can occur in patients with cancer. C. diff is a gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming, toxigenic bacterium, and infection is acquired via fecal-oral transmission and can cause symptoms ranging from uncomplicated diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon.