Lindsay Fischer

Case Summary 76-year-old female Diagnosis: Stage II ISS (International Staging System) disease ECOG Performance Status: 1 Coexisting Condition: Early-stage Parkinson’s disease, well-controlled with treatment Main Symptoms: Severe lower back and neck pain The hematologist-oncologist determines that the patient is not a suitable candidate for a transplant. The patient expresses the following: Lifestyle Preferences: Enjoys spending time outside but limited by increasing fatigue and mobili…

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are one of many different classes of anticancer drugs to enter the treatment paradigm. As of August 2023, there have been 11 approvals for ADCs to treat solid and hematological malignancies, and there are over 100 still in clinical trials.1 Specifically, 2 ADCs have been approved in the gynecologic oncology space alone. First came tisotumab vedotin-tftv (Tivdak), which was approved for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer in September 2021. Its…

Socioeconomic disparities may play a role in how many patients access their electronic health record, according to findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Key Findings The investigators collected information regarding 28,942 patients. In total, 35% (n = 10,061) never accessed the portal. Only 25.1% of patients (n = 4739), accessed the portal persistently, meaning that 74.9% of patients (n = 14,142) used it for less than 21 weeks. Patients who were male, belonged…

A nurse-led quality improvement project significantly reduced the amount of operating room [OR]-related pressure injuries at a New York Cancer Institution, elevating patient safety and improving the quality of care. Kizzie Charles, MS, APRN, AGCNS-BC, CNOR, who is a clinical nurse specialist with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and who has been working in an OR for 17 years, helped lead this project. In an interview with Oncology Nursing News, she walked through the design of this pro…

A nurse-led project based out of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute demonstrated that the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) test can be feasibly implemented into routine workflow, helping teams to identify which patients are more likely to fall, and allowing the patients to be referred to the appropriate professionals. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In an interview, Amy Martinez, BSN, RN, OCN, who served as the lead author on the study, spoke to Onco…

Olaparib (Lynparza) improved survival outcomes in all assessed subgroups of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and BRCA alterations, according to findings from the phase 3 PROfound trial (NCT02987543) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “In this post-hoc exploratory analysis of patients with an underlying BRCA alteration in PROfound, treatment with olaparib compared with abiraterone or enzalutamide [Xtandi] led to a radiological progression-free s…

A modified dosing schedule for ipilimumab (Yervoy) plus nivolumab (Opdivo) was associated with significantly lower rates of grade 3 to 5 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) among patients with intermediate- or poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC), according to findings from the phase 2 PRISM trial (ISRCTN95351638) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Further, although the trial was not powered to compare the efficacy of the 2 different dosing schedules, the informal c…

In this special episode of The Vitals, we ring in the New Year 2024 by combing through 2023 FDA approvals. Listen as editor, Lindsay Fischer, recounts key approvals on a month-by-month basis. To read the full information surrounding the approvals, be sure to check out our news coverage below. As always, thank you for listening to The Vitals, and for all the engagement in 2023. We look forward to bringing you more oncology news in 2024. We want to hear from you! Which drugs approved in 2023 h…

For patients with locally advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, the recommended frontline standard of care is endocrine therapy, with either aromatase inhibitors or fulvestrant (Faslodex), plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor.1 However, when the disease begins to progress, the cancer becomes endocrine resistant.1 This is usually accompanied by acquired mutations across a number of genes, including ERBB2, NF1, and ESR1.1 For patients who develop an ESR1 mutation…

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a curable disease, and a standard first-line treatment is the combination of R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan], cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride, vincristine sulfate, and prednisone). Approximately 60% of patients are cured with R CHOP chemotherapy. For 35% to 40% of patients, the disease will be refractory to this approach.1 Relapse after first-line R-CHOP chemotherapy has been a clinical challenge and historically was treated with platinum-based sa…