The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, filed complaints for permanent injunctions against six e-cigarette manufacturers in October 2022. It was the first time FDA initiated injunction proceedings to enforce review requirements for new tobacco products.
Biomarker- and molecular-driven technologies such as molecular models can precisely predict how an individual’s cancer will respond to certain treatments, the pinnacle of precision oncology. However, established modeling systems such as patient-derived xenografts and patient-derived organoids require large tissue samples and take months or even a year to obtain results, barriers that have limited their application in regular practice.
Making history as the single largest Navigator organization funding award provided to date, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, invested $98.9 million in grant funding to 59 Navigator organizations in August 2022 to help consumers navigate enrollment and make health coverage more accessible.
Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome, a diverse and complex mix of microorganisms and their metabolites, is closely linked to the immune system, and researchers are studying whether modulating the gut microbiome affects cancer immunotherapy treatment outcomes. In particular, probiotics—which are flora typically obtained through dietary sources such as yogurt and fermented foods or via supplemental forms—are gaining prominence as a potential strategy to modulate the gut microbiome during cancer treatment.
To better reflect product descriptions and enforce commitment to diversity and inclusion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products updated its term “grandfathered tobacco product” to “pre-existing tobacco product” in August 2022.
On November 10, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved tremelimumab (Imjudo®) in combination with durvalumab (Imfinzi®) and platinum-based chemotherapy for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with no sensitizing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) variant or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) genomic tumor aberrations.
In June 2021, I was at a crossroads in my career. I had been an oncology nurse practitioner for the past 14 years, and it was time to decide if I should retire as a provider. Yet I felt like I still had more to do and more patients to help. I was determined to make a difference for patients with cancer.
Nurses’ valuable insight can bring a new perspective to every industry. Extreme dedication, unique experiences, and essential problem-solving skills help nurses to create an impact locally and nationally, and decision-makers have learned that these healthcare professionals have a plethora of valuable insight that must be heard in boardrooms across the country.
Before poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors were approved for ovarian cancer, traditional treatment consisted of surgical cytoreduction and platinum-based chemotherapy with a taxane, with or without bevacizumab, depending on stage and type. With the surgery-chemotherapy combination, 70%–75% of patients had recurrence and overall five-year survival rates were 29%, indicating a need for additional therapies.
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.