Black or Hispanic individuals, those who’ve received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and older individuals are more likely to experience lymphedema after breast cancer treatment with axillary lymph node dissection and radiation therapy, researchers reported in JAMA Oncology.
On October 24, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ivosidenib (Tibsovo®) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) variant, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The agency also approved the Abbott RealTime IDH1 assay as a companion diagnostic device to select patients for ivosidenib treatment.
After a single-arm clinical trial demonstrated an overall response rate of 31.7% in 106 patients with folate receptor (FR) alpha–positive, platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere®) accelerated approval on November 14, 2022.
Veterans younger than age 40 who may have been exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their service are now eligible for breast cancer risk assessments and clinically appropriate mammograms in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system, the department announced in July 2023.
On October 20, 2023, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek®) for pediatric patients older than 1 month with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance variant, are metastatic or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and have progressed following treatment or have no satisfactory standard therapy.
Burnout knows no borders. The nursing workforce crisis cares little about country lines or continents. Regardless of their time zone, nurses in all settings are leaving the profession. “Healthcare systems are ailing, and they are in urgent need of healing. [We] call to action health system executives and other leaders to support, promote, and enable bold experiments to avert additional personnel losses and improve patient outcomes,” ONS member Christopher Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN®, and colleagues wrote in a July 2023 NAM Perspectives commentary.
“The FDA is prepared to use all of its authorities to ensure these, and other illegal and youth-appealing products, stay out of the hands of kids. We are committed to a multipronged approach using regulation, compliance, and enforcement action and education to protect our nation’s youth.”
—Robert M. Califf, MD, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner
Compared to standard double reading from two radiologists, artificial intelligence (AI)–supported mammography screening detected one additional breast cancer per 1,000 patients, researchers reported in Lancet Oncology. AI mammography also cut radiologists’ screening workload nearly in half.
On October 16, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment and with continuation of single-agent pembrolizumab as postsurgical adjuvant treatment for resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm or node positive) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Approximately 10% of cancers are linked to a germline (inherited) pathogenic variant, which can be confirmed with germline susceptibility testing of a blood, skin, or saliva sample (not a tumor specimen). Identification of individuals with a germline pathogenic variant helps clinicians predict their risk for developing malignancies and provide recommendations for cancer prevention and early detection. If an individual develops a tumor, subsequent somatic predictive or prognostic biomarker tumor testing may be indicated.