Targeted therapies block the growth of cancer by interfering with specific molecules and may also be referred to as molecularly targeted drugs or precision oncology. Advanced practice RNs (APRNs) must be familiar with the various agents and their side effect profiles, including immunotherapies, hormone therapies, apoptosis inducers, monoclonal antibodies, angiogenesis inhibitors, and signal transduction inhibitors.
According to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) analysis, the number of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) reported in the United States dropped by 910,000 (13%) from 2014–2017.
Genomic testing—identifying variants, like mutations, in tumor cells to inform patient treatment options—occasionally comes with unanticipated results that clinicians have to address with their patients. Clinicians and patients alike are often hopeful that tumor genomic testing will identify a personalized cancer treatment. Indeed, many patients have benefited from being candidates for new targeted therapies identified through genomic testing.
Every cancer diagnosis is as individualized and unique as the person receiving it. From family history to societal and economic background to a patient’s genetic make-up and composition, cancer affects each person with cancer differently. Initiatives like precision medicine are based in data that suggest that a personalized disease should have its own personalized treatment. As a subset of precision medicine, precision oncology assesses a patient’s unique genetic profile to help align targeted therapies to hit the right cancer subtypes.
To recognize outstanding contributions and excellence to the field of clinical nurse specialists, the Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute (CNSI) selected 38 nurses to its inaugural class of fellows, including three ONS members Marilyn Chrisman, MS, APRN, GCNS-BC, Patricia Geddie, PhD, CNS, AOCNSA, and Tina Mason, MSN, ARNP, AOCNA, AOCNSA. They will be among the first fellows to use the FCNS credential in practice.
Democrats control the majority of the House of Representatives, and it’s their responsibility to provide and pass a U.S. budget. As with any Congress, it’s always easier said than done. With a larger, more progressive freshman class interested in pushing more environmental, health, and welfare policy issues forward, costs will be a concern.
On February 28, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a trastuzumab and hyaluronidase-oysk injection, for subcutaneous use (Herceptin Hylecta). The drug is a combination of trastuzumab, a HER2/neu receptor antagonist, and hyaluronidase, an endoglycosidase, for the treatment of HER2‑overexpressing breast cancer.
A provider develops a partnership with a patient and negotiates behaviors to reach an agreement to adhere to oral chemotherapy medication. This is an example of which strategy?
a. Reinforcement
b. Operant conditioning
c. Motivational interviewing
d. Partnership
On January 25, 2019, President Trump announced a deal to end the longest U.S. government partial shutdown in history—35 days of closed public places and programs, furloughed or unpaid federal employees, and an apprehensive American nation. What was its impact on health policy and, more specifically, cancer care?
Women with early-stage cervical cancer have higher recurrence rates and worse overall survival with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy than abdominal radical hysterectomy, according to the results of two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine.