Episodios

  • Episode 389: Biomarker Testing for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

    Episode 389: Biomarker Testing for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
    Nov 14 2025
    "It's critical to identify those mutations found that are driving the cancer's growth and guide the personalized treatment based on those results. And important to remember, too, early testing is crucial for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In studies, it has been found to be associated with improved survival outcomes and reduced mortality," ONS member Vicki Doctor, MS, BSN, BSW, RN, OCN®, precision medicine director at the City of Hope Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, and Phoenix, AZ, locations, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the oncology nurse's role in NSCLC biomarker testing. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 This podcast is sponsored by Lilly Oncology and is not eligible for NCPD contact hours. ONS is solely responsible for the criteria, objectives, content, quality, and scientific integrity of its programs and publications. Episode Notes This episode is not eligible for NCPD.ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 363: Lung Cancer Treatment Considerations for Nurses Episode 359: Lung Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities Episode 238: Cancer Genomics for Every Oncology Nurse Episode 157: Biomarker Testing Improves Outcomes for Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer ONS Voice articles: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Prevention, Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, Side Effects, and Survivorship Only a Third of Patients With Advanced Cancer Get Biomarker Testing, Limiting Use of Potentially Effective Precision Therapies Precision Medicine in Lung Cancer: How Comprehensive Testing Optimizes Patient Outcomes Targeted Therapies Are Transforming the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer ONS book: Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy (second edition)ONS course: Genomic Foundations for Precision OncologyClinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Using Nurse Navigators to Improve Timeliness of Biomarker Testing for Non-Small Cell Lung CancerOncology Nursing Forum article: Precision Medicine Testing and Disparities in Health Care for Individuals With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Narrative ReviewOther ONS resources: Best Practices for Biomarker Testing in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Case Study Genomics and Precision Oncology Learning Library Genomics Case Study: Precision Medicine in the Setting of Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung CancerBiomarker Database (refine by non-small cell lung cancer) Genomic Biomarkers Huddle Card Targeted Therapy Huddle Card National Comprehensive Cancer Network homepage To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org Highlights From This Episode "These biomarkers are used to provide information about cancer's characteristics or behavior. In oncology precision medicine specifically, molecular tests can help with diagnosing a cancer that is maybe an unknown primary. It can help with monitoring response to therapy, detect recurrence of disease before other tests can find that, predict prognosis or how aggressive the cancer may be, and guide treatment decisions for targeted therapies." TS 3:14 "Some of the key biomarkers recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to be tested in patients who have NSCLC are EGFR, ALK, KRAS, BRAF, MET exon 14 skipping mutation, HER2 which is a protein expression from an ErbB protein, PD-L1 which is a protein expression that's used to guide immunotherapy choices, and then finally there are three fusions: ROS1, RET, and NTRK. [These] are pretty rare but really important to be tested for in patients who have NSCLC." TS 3:46 "Another important challenge for nurses related to this topic is that these results may not reveal a targeted mutation for the patient and that could be very disappointing. So, being able to provide that emotional support to a patient if they have that result … you can actually reinforce with them that if [they] go onto another treatment that the physician decides to put [them] on, the tumor can change. New pathogenic variants can develop based on the treatment that they're getting, and another test can be done. And maybe at that time—a new biomarker that could be targeted—we'd be seeing on the new test." TS 7:32 "Another circumstance we didn't talk about yet is that maybe the result came back saying that the quality was not sufficient. And sometimes that happens, but that doesn't mean that we're at the end of the road, necessarily. So, you could explain to the patient that that may mean that possibly, a new biopsy would be ordered by the physician. Or if a new biopsy or another tissue sample is not available, then maybe the physician would pivot to sending a blood ...
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    19 m
  • Episode 388: ONS 50th Anniversary: Milestones in Oncology Advocacy and Health Policy

    Episode 388: ONS 50th Anniversary: Milestones in Oncology Advocacy and Health Policy
    Nov 7 2025
    "I think we really need to push more of our oncology nurses to get into elected and appointed positions. So often we're looking at health positions to get involved in, and those are wonderful. We need nurses as secretaries of health, but there are others. We as nurses understand higher education. We understand environment. We understand energy. So I think we look broadly at, what are positions we can get in? Let's have more nurses run for state legislative offices, for our House of Representatives, for the U.S. Senate," ONS member Barbara Damron, PhD, LHD, RN, FAAN, told Ryne Wilson, DNP, RN, OCN®, CNE, ONS member and member of the ONS 50th anniversary committee, during a conversation about the future of oncology nursing advocacy and health policy. Wilson spoke with Damron and ONS member Janice Phillips, PhD, RN, CENP, FADLN, FAAN, about how ONS has advanced advocacy and policy efforts over the past 50 years and its approaches for the future. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes This episode is not eligible for NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: ONS 50th anniversary series Episode 229: How Advocacy Can Shape Your Nursing Career ONS Voice articles: Oncology Nurses Take to Capitol Hill to Advocate for Cancer Care Priorities Our Unified Voices Can Improve Cancer Survivorship Care With Voices Amplified by ONS, Oncology Nurses Speak Out for Patients and the Profession on Capitol Hill NOBC Partnerships Advance Nurses' Placements on Local and National Boards Nursing Leadership Has Space for You and Your Goals ONS courses: Advocacy 101: Making a Difference Board Leadership: Nurses in Governance Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Nurses on Boards: My Experience on the Moonshot Strengthening Oncology Nursing by Using Research to Inform Politics and Policy ONS Center for Advocacy and Health Policy Current ONS position statements Connie Henke Yarbro Oncology Nursing History Center Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Cancer Moonshot National Cancer Policy Forum National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN Roundtable National Patient Advocate Foundation Nurses on Boards Coalition One Voice Against Cancer Patient Quality of Life Coalition Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode Phillips: "I think that there are so many pressing issues, but I'm going to start with any kind of threats or legislation that's poised to take away safety-net resources. It's really going to set us back because we all know that, particularly for minorities and certain other underserved populations, they have experienced poor cancer outcomes for a variety of reasons, variety of socioeconomic reasons, lack of access to quality screening resources—you name it. When you take away those safety net resources and take away resources for people who are already underserved, uninsured, or underinsured, it also jeopardizes their ability to get proper screening, get proper follow-up, have access to state of the art cancer services. I think the lack of affordability of health care is a problem that continues to challenge us, whether you on Medicaid or whether you have limited insurance." TS 10:16 Damron: "Because ONS is so grounded in science and research—we're not just a clinical organization; we're grounded in scholarship, science, research, and publication—we're able to take this vast network of strong clinicians [and combine it] with amazing scientists. … We've had some amazing scientists come out of ONS; some of the leading nurse scientists of all time were also oncology nurses. So by combining this, we're able to make a difference at the state and federal level. So the advocacy work that I've been involved in, state and federal levels, really involved working with the ONS staff involved with advocacy and those scientists and clinicians who brought that expertise." TS 18:19 Phillips: "I think expanding the work around multiculturalism in oncology will always be important. Are there any new partnerships or avenues that ONS can reach out to or explore? Maybe there are other specialty organizations or groups—and not always necessarily nursing— because as we think about the determinants of health, we think about things like health and all policies. Maybe there are other disciplines or other specialties that we need to embrace as we launch our agendas." TS 23:28 Damron: "As nurses, just our basic nursing training, we get these skills—we see a problem, we identify the problem, we assess what we're going to do about it, we do it, and then we evaluate what we did. Does ...
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    34 m
  • Episode 387: Prostate Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities

    Episode 387: Prostate Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities
    Oct 31 2025
    "[When] a lot of men think about prostate exams, they immediately think of the glove going on the hand of the physician, and they immediately clench. But really try to talk with them and discuss with them what some of the benefits are of understanding early detection. Even just having those conversations with their providers so that they understand what the risk and benefits are of having screening. And then educate patients on what a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal exam (DRE) actually are—how it happens, what it shows, and what the necessary benefits of those are," ONS member Clara Beaver, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, manager of clinical education and clinical nurse specialist at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about prostate cancer screening, early detection, and disparities. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.25 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by October 31, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to prostate screening, early detection, and disparities. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.ONS Podcast™ Episode 149: Health Disparities and Barriers in Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate CancerONS Voice articles: Gender-Affirming Hormones May Lower PSA and Delay Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in Transgender Women Healthy Lifestyles Reduce Prostate Cancer Mortality in Patients With Genetic Risk Hispanic Patients Are at Higher Risk for Aggressive Prostate Cancer but Less Likely to Get Treatment Leveling State-Level Tax Policies May Increase Equality in Cancer Screening and Mortality Rates Most Cancer Screening Guidelines Don't Disclose Potential Harms ONS book: Understanding Genomic and Hereditary Cancer Risk: A Handbook for Oncology NursesONS course: Genomic Foundations for Precision OncologyClinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Barriers and Solutions to Cancer Screening in Gender Minority PopulationsOncology Nursing Forum articles: Disparities in Cancer Screening in Sexual and Gender Minority Populations: A Secondary Analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Data Symptom Experiences Among Individuals With Prostate Cancer and Their Partners: Influence of Sociodemographic and Cancer Characteristics Other ONS resources: Genomics and Precision Oncology Learning LibraryONS Biomarker Database (refine by prostate cancer) American Cancer Society prostate cancer early detection, diagnosis, and staging page National Institutes of Health prostate cancer screening page U.S. Preventive Services Task Force prostate cancer screening recommendation statement To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org Highlights From This Episode "The recommendations are men [aged] 45 who are at high risk, including African American men and men who have a first-degree relative who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer younger than 65 should go through screening. And men aged 40 at an even higher risk, these are the men that have that one first-degree relative who has had prostate cancer before 65. Screening includes the PSA blood test and a digital exam. Those are the screening recommendations, although they are a little bit controversial." TS 3:42 "You still see PSAs and DREs as the first line because they're easier for primary care providers to perform. ... Those are typically covered by insurance, so they still play that role in screening. But with the advent of MRIs and biomarkers, these have really helped refine that screening process and determine treatment options for our patients. Again, those patients who may be at a bit of a higher risk could go for an MRI or have biomarkers completed. Or if they're on that verge with their Gleason score, instead of doing a biopsy, they may send the patient for an MRI or do biomarkers for that patient. ... These updated technologies put [patients] a little bit more at ease that someone's watching what's going on, and they don't have to have anything invasive done to see where they're at with their staging." TS 4:35 "Disparities in screening access exist based on race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, education, and geography. ...
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    16 m
  • Episode 386: Interprofessional Navigation and the Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass

    Episode 386: Interprofessional Navigation and the Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass
    Oct 24 2025
    "This was a panel of subject matter experts of various nurses and pharmacists. We often found common ground but also discovered new ideas, different touchpoints, and key junctures along that oral anticancer medication journey. For example, the pharmacists were able to share their insights into their unique workflows within their practice setting. What resulted is a resource that truly reflects that collaborative effort between the disciplines," ONS member Mary Anderson, BSN, RN, OCN®, senior manager of nursing membership and professional development at the Network for Collaborative Oncology Development and Advancement (NCODA) in Cazenovia, NY, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS. Weimer spoke with Anderson and Kris LeFebvre, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, AOCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, about the Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass: Resources for Interprofessional Navigation, a project created as a collaboration between ONS and NCODA. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes This episode is not eligible for NCPD contact hours.ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 215: Navigate Updates in Oral Adherence to Cancer Therapies Episode 16: Navigating the Challenges of Oral Chemotherapy ONS Voice articles: As Institutions Establish Oral Agent Workflows, Savvy Educators Help Nurses Apply Them to Practice Maintain Oral Adherence With ONS Guidelines™ The Oncology Nurse's Role in Oral Anticancer Therapies ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (Second Edition)ONS courses: ONS Fundamentals of Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Administration™ ONS/ONCC®Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Implementation of an Oral Antineoplastic Therapy Program: Results From a Pilot ProjectOncology Nursing Forum articles: Domains of Structured Oral Anticancer Medication Programs: A Scoping Review Interventions to Support Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis ONS Guidelines™ to Support Patient Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications Other ONS resources: ASCO/ONS Antineoplastic Therapy Administration Safety Standards Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass: Resources for Interprofessional NavigationOral Anticancer Medication Learning LibraryDrugs@FDA Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association Oral Chemotherapy CollaborativeNational Comprehensive Cancer Network homepageNCODA homepage Patient Education Sheets website To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org Highlights From This Episode LeFebvre: "There are five different elements to the care compass itself. The first is called the OAM [oral anticancer medication] workflow analysis tool. ... This [tool] allows an OAM program to really study where their processes are. Where are the gaps in the process and where might their patients be at risk? It's something that you can use within your setting to analyze your current processes and see where you can strengthen them. The second tool is something focused on patient and caregiver education. This includes a lot of information about what should be taught, how it could be taught, the best timing and so forth, according to the literature. ... The third tool is an assessment and grading tool. It's a fun tool that approaches symptom management using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grading tool. ... The fourth tool is a specialty pharmacy and patient assistance contact directory template. This is a spreadsheet that can be used by anyone navigating patient care with OAMs to keep track of their professional contacts. ... The final [tool] is the OAM adherence blueprint. This has a lot of important information on adherence, methods to assess adherence, and calculate adherence rate." TS 7:15 LeFebvre: "Interprofessional collaboration is so essential just in day-to-day care, and OAM care is no different in that regard. Oncology nurses work in so many different settings and their role may be very different even if they have the same title. You can have OAM navigation that is completely handled in the pharmacy. I've talked with nurses who have said, 'We don't even touch it.' But they do. Because when a patient has a combination regimen, they might have an infusion regimen that goes along with an oral therapy. Or that patient might just know that infusion room nurse so much better and they feel more comfortable [contacting them] when they have a side effect from their oral therapy. So, infusion nurses need to be aware of what the patients are on and what the potential side effects are." TS 14:...
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    28 m
  • Episode 385: ONS 50th Anniversary: Evolution of Cancer Survivorship

    Episode 385: ONS 50th Anniversary: Evolution of Cancer Survivorship
    Oct 17 2025
    "It started out by doing a kind of a white paper that we called Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care. Ellen Stovall, our CEO [of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship] at the time, gave this report to Dr. Richard Klausner, who was the head of National Cancer Institute at the time. He called Ellen immediately and said, 'Why are we not doing something about this?' Within one year, we had the Office of Cancer Survivorship at NCI," ONS member Susan Leigh, BSN, RN, told ONS member Ruth Van Gerpen, MS, RN-BC, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, PMGT-BC, member of the ONS 50th anniversary committee, during a conversation about her involvement in cancer survivorship advocacy. Van Gerpen also spoke with ONS members Deborah Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, and Timiya S. Nolan, PhD, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC, about the history and future of cancer survivorship. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes This episode is not eligible for NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 201: Which Survivorship Care Model Is Right for Your Patient? Episode 91: The Seasons of Survivorship Episode 49: The Cancer Survivorship Conundrum ONS Voice article: Our Unified Voices Can Improve Cancer Survivorship Care ONS book: Oncology Nurse Navigation: Delivering Patient-Centered Care Across the Continuum (third edition) ONS course: Essentials in Survivorship Care for the Advanced Practice Provider Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Incorporating Nurse Navigation to Improve Cancer Survivorship Care Plan Delivery Survivorship Care: More Than Checking a Box The Missing Piece of Survivorship: Cancer Prevention Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Patient Perceptions of Survivorship Care Plans: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation Survivorship Care Plans: Health Actions Taken and Satisfaction After Use ONS Survivorship Learning Library Rehabilitation of People With Cancer: Position Statement from the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) and endorsed by the Oncology Nursing Society Connie Henke Yarbro Oncology Nursing History Center American Cancer Society Survivorship resources Cancer Survivors Network Cancer Nation (formerly National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship) Cancer Survival Toolbox Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care: Access, Advocacy, Action, and Accountability (white paper) National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation New England Journal of Medicine article: Seasons of Survival: Reflections of a Physician With Cancer by Fitzhugh Mullan To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode Leigh: "Another way that [National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship] got very involved with looking at how we keep this information coming and how we really share care with our outside physicians is the development of survivorship care plans. And then we also hoped that we would see more survivorship clinics by now. But between trying to get people to develop care plans and clinics, it's been like pulling teeth. It has been very difficult. And a lot of this struggle to get this going has been, first of all, there isn't enough money to do this. There isn't enough time for immediate staff to take these on, and we just don't have enough staff as it is now. And survivorship is not a moneymaker, so it's just something that has to be done kind of on the side." TS 11:54 Mayer: "When I became ONS president in the '80s—I was the fourth ONS president—we were given a cancer grant to do something with our presidency. And that was when I really wanted to bring attention to rehabilitation as a means to address cancer survivorship issues because we had a very 'treat 'em and street 'em' attitude. We gave you your treatment, and we sent you home, and you had to figure out the rest. And there wasn't a lot of knowledge or support to help you put your life back together again afterwards. And so in that process, it was an interdisciplinary group of professionals that tried to come up with what was an appropriate position statement because ONS was just starting to do position statements. And so we developed a first position statement on cancer rehabilitation to address survivorship issues in like 1987 to '89." TS 17:15 Mayer: "When I went back to school for my PhD, I did my dissertation on health behaviors of cancer survivors and realizing the huge gap in the care that they were getting for anything other than their cancer. We were still focused on their tumor and on treating their tumor. But we were missing the picture that if the cancer didn't kill them, their heart disease would, and they would develop diabetes and other things. … But as people started living longer and longer, we were ...
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    47 m
  • Episode 384: Learn About Scalp Cooling for Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia

    Episode 384: Learn About Scalp Cooling for Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia
    Oct 10 2025
    "Chemotherapy-induced alopecia does cause a lot of stress. It's associated with lower quality of life. Scalp cooling may really help improve quality of life. Some studies have shown that women in the scalp cooling group felt less upset about losing their hair and less dissatisfied with their appearance compared to the women in the control group that didn't receive any scalp cooling. So a lot of these studies are showing it does have a very positive impact on psychosocial feelings and side effects in relation to overall cancer treatment," ONS member Jaclyn Andronico, MSN, CNS, OCN®, AOCNS®, clinical nurse specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about chemotherapy-induced alopecia and scalp cooling. The advertising messages in this episode are paid for by Paxman. ONS is solely responsible for the criteria, objectives, content, quality, and scientific integrity of its programs and publications. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes This episode is not eligible for NCPD. ONS Podcast™ Episode 250: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Dermatologic Complications ONS Voice articles: Diagnose and Manage Dermatologic Toxicity Secondary to Immunotherapy Follow the Evidence When Using Scalp Cooling for Cancer Alopecia Reimbursements Are Making Scalp Cooling More Accessible for Patients With Cancer The Case of the CIA-Combatting Combination ONS Voice oncology drug reference sheets: Docetaxel Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Sacituzumab Govitecan-Hziy ONS Guidelines™ for Cancer Treatment-Related Skin Toxicity Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia: Examining Patient Perceptions and Adherence to Home Haircare Recommendations Scalp Cooling: Implementing a Cold Cap Program at a Community Breast Health Center Scalp Cooling: Implementation of a Program at a Multisite Organization Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Effectiveness, Safety, and Tolerance of Scalp Cooling for Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia The Effect of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia on Distress and Quality of Life in Male Patients With Cancer ONS Altered Body Image Huddle Card Journal of Market Access and Health Policy article: Expanding the Availability of Scalp Cooling to All Patients at Risk of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia HairToStay Paxman patient assistance program Rapunzel Project To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode "Some of the classes that are high risk for chemotherapy-induced alopecia can include antitumor antibiotics, such as doxorubicin, epirubicin; antimicrotubule drugs, such as taxanes like docetaxel, paclitaxel; alkylating agents such as cyclophosphamide. The lower risk alopecia-causing chemo agents are the antimetabolite classes, which a lot of people know as gemcitabine or fluorouracil. We also are seeing patients experience some degree of alopecia with a drug called sacituzumab govitecan, which is an actual antibody–drug conjugate." TS 2:09 "Scalp cooling is approved for solid tumor patients. Patients receiving chemotherapy agents, as we discussed before, with that high incidence of chemotherapy-induced alopecia really should be considered for scalp cooling as long as they don't have certain contraindications. Some contraindications do exist for these populations. Those are patients that have cold agglutinin diseases, cryoglobulinemia, cryofibrinogenemia, and any cold sensitivity issues. Patients also with abnormal liver functions are not suggested to receive scalp cooling because their liver function is associated with the metabolism of the drug agent. It's also not recommended for patients with hematologic malignancies who are higher risk for cutaneous metastatic disease or failed chemotherapy and even reduced survival rates." TS 9:23 "Overall, scalp cooling has a good tolerance, but it's important to be aware that scalp cooling can be uncomfortable for some, and it isn't always tolerated by some patients. Patients have reported side effects such as headaches, dizziness, chills, cold sensations, scalp pain, head discomfort, and even claustrophobia. Among these, the most common is the cold feeling and headaches. So when caring for patients that undergo scalp cooling, the nurses really should recognize the patient's feelings and help relieve that discomfort with position changes, prophylactic painkillers such as [acetaminophen] or [ibuprofen] if they're allowed to take that, additional warm blankets. Even antianxiety medications can really ...
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    30 m
  • Episode 383: Pharmacology 101: Bispecific Antibodies

    Episode 383: Pharmacology 101: Bispecific Antibodies
    Oct 3 2025
    "I think that this is an area that is exploding. Working with drug development, I see new agents all the time, with unique targets I've never heard about, with targets I have heard about used in a different way. So, I really think we're going to see more and more bispecifics. A lot of these drugs are used second line, third line, fourth line. I would not be surprised if they moved up in treatment, especially as we learn safer ways to give these drugs," ONS member Moe Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, FHOP, professor of pharmacy practice at the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati, OH, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about bispecific antibodies. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by October 3, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learner will report an increase in knowledge related to the use of bispecific antibodies in the treatment of cancer. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.ONS Podcast™ episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Episode 275: Bispecific Monoclonal Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers and Solid Tumors Episode 261: CAR T-Cell Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies Requires Education and Navigation Episode 176: Oncologic Emergencies: Cytokine Release Syndrome ONS Voice articles: An Oncology Nurse's Guide to Bispecific Antibodies Bispecific Antibodies Cross-Discipline Cancer Care ONS Voice oncology drug reference sheets: Amivantamab-Vmjw Blinatumomab Epcoritamab-Bysp Glofitamab-Gxbm Mosunetuzumab-Axgb Tebentafusp-Tebn Teclistamab-Cqyv ONS book: Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy (second edition)ONS course: ONS/ONCC® Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Optimizing Transitions of Care in Multiple Myeloma Immunotherapy: Nurse RolesOther ONS resources: Bispecific Antibodies Video Bispecifics Huddle Card Cytokine Release Syndrome Huddle Card Immune Effector Cell–Associated Neurotoxicity Syndrome Huddle Card DailyMed homepageHematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association late-breaking news article: The Emerging Use of Bispecific Antibodies with Chemotherapy in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org Highlights From This Episode "It was 2014 that most of us think of as the beginning of bispecifics in cancer, and that was with approval of blinatumomab. That was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is a bispecific that targets CD19-expressing tumor cells and CD3 on T cells. It's the original bispecific T-cell engager and is often called a 'BiTE.'" TS 2:11 "The term 'bispecific' means that this is an artificial protein that's developed to hit two different antigens simultaneously. They can be two different epitopes on the same antigen. They can be an antigen on a cancer cell and CD3 on a T cell that kind of recruits the T cell to the cancer. So, there are different types [of bispecific antibodies]. The subtype that we often talk about are bispecific T-cell engagers, which are those bispecifics that do target the T cell. And currently, the target on the T cell that's utilized is the CD3 molecule. That's not the only one that will be used in the future because there's a lot of work being done on other types of T-cell engagers." TS 4:21 "The targets for lymphoma are CD20. Those are bispecific T-cell engagers that hit CD20 on the lymphoma cell, as well as CD3 on a T cell. ... In myeloma, we have two different targets that have been utilized. One is BCMA or B-cell maturation antigen. That sits on the surface of myeloma cells and on some healthy B cells. ... There's also a target used in myeloma that's called GPRC5D, which stands for G protein–coupled receptor, class C, group 5, member D. ... In small cell lung cancer, there's delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3); it's part of the NOTCH pathway. ... And then this year, we've had a couple agents come out that target HER2." TS 6:52 "[Toxicities] are very dependent on what your target is. ... The bispecific T-cell engager that's used in myeloma that targets the GPRC5D is also ...
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    37 m
  • Episode 382: Radiation Oncology Treatment Care for Pediatric Patients

    Episode 382: Radiation Oncology Treatment Care for Pediatric Patients
    Sep 26 2025
    "I think sometimes people don't expect pediatric patients to handle radiation as well as they do. They may have a family member who also had radiation for breast cancer or for prostate cancer and they were an older adult and had really severe side effects. And then they say, 'Oh, no, I've got to put my little baby through this. I don't really want to do this.' We say kids are very different in how they handle this. They're very resilient, so we can provide good education about that," Elizabeth Cummings, MSN, CPNP-AC, CPHON®, radiation oncology nurse practitioner at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about radiation treatment care for pediatric patients. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by September 26, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learner will report an increase in knowledge related to radiation oncology treatment care for pediatric patients. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 365: Radiation-Associated Secondary Cancers Episode 301: Radiation Oncology: Side Effect and Care Coordination Best Practices Episode 298: Radiation Oncology: Nursing's Essential Roles Episode 204: How Radiation Is Used in Palliative Care Episode 50: Difficult Decisions in Childhood Cancer ONS Voice articles: Fertility Preservation Protects Possibilities for Patients With Cancer Have Meaningful Conversations With Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Patients and Their Families Pediatric Cancer Survivors Require Additional Care and Monitoring Prepare Survivors for the Risk of Secondary Cancers Secondary Cancers in Pediatric Survivors ONS book: Manual for Radiation Oncology Nursing Practice and Education (Fifth Edition)ONS courses: Essentials in Survivorship Care for the Advanced Practice Provider ONS/ONCC® Radiation Therapy Certificate™ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Radiation Therapy Survivorship: Healthcare Providers' Perspectives on Education and Care Radiation Therapy: Understanding the Patient Experience Reducing Pediatric Patient Anxiety: Implementing a Nonpharmacologic Intervention to Aid Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy Other ONS Resources Inclusive Care Learning Library Late Effects of Cancer Treatment Huddle Card Proton Therapy Huddle Card Radiation Huddle CardRadiation Learning Library Oncolink Jr.Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode "I think one of the things to think about with kids is sometimes they're not as forthcoming with what's going on, and sometimes it's a little bit harder to understand. Sometimes that's just because developmentally, they're much younger. A 1-year-old can't exactly tell you what's wrong. And so you're really trying to figure it out based on their cues versus a teenager who can tell you, but maybe they're too embarrassed about something in a way that an adult might not be." TS 7:01 "Child life specialists are incredible. ... They provide age-appropriate education and explanations for patients, so talking to a 3-year-old about cancer is very different from an 8-year-old or even a teenager. They really are able to meet each patient exactly where they are and at the level that they are, and then provide the appropriate amount of information, which is so helpful for a patient since they learn to build trust and cope with their treatment and [they feel like they] have somebody who can relay that information in a clear and concise way." TS 11:16 "There's certainly growing concern about the potential effects of anesthesia on brain health, especially in a vulnerable population like very young children, which are the ones who need anesthesia. We really try to mitigate this by optimizing our anesthetic agents, so we'll use propofol, which has a really quick onset and offset. And even when the radiation treatment is done, they'll stop the propofol in the radiation room—even though they are still walking back to recovery, just to minimize the amount of time that it's on—and trying to use the lowest dose possible. We also [explore] a...
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