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SAN DIEGO-Lead aprons, radiation badges, and patient laundry are not the normal concerns of nurses. But as new radioimmunotherapy agents are evaluated and introduced into practice, nurses will need to familiarize themselves with radiation safety precautions, said Patricia A. Kramer, RN, MSN, a San Francisco-based oncology nurse educator and consultant. Patient education and instruction throughout the whole process is key.

STONY BROOK, NY-The new Long Island Cancer Center at Stony Brook University is welcoming the community into a partnership in cancer research, John S. Kovach, MD, founding director of the Center, told ONI in an interview.

WASHINGTON-Witnesses at the first-ever Congressional hearing on hematologic cancers urged Congress to act on the recommendations of the Leukemia-Lymphoma-Myeloma Progress Review Group (LLM-PRG). This group, composed of more than 180 researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, industry representatives, and government officials, released its report last May.

BUFFALO, NY-A pain intensity assessment program undertaken at Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been successful in increasing staff assessment of pain and in promoting optimal pain management. Reporting at a poster session at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Congress, Jacqueline L. Massey, RN, MS, assistant director of nursing, described the development of the Center’s comprehensive program, known as the Fifth Vital Sign.

BUFFALO, NY-Former Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) faculty member J. Craig Venter, PhD, founder and president of Celera Genomics, returned to the Buffalo-based comprehensive cancer center to present the Institute’s Cori Lecture (see box).

SAN FRANCISCO-A highly sensitive photon sensor has shown promise as a means of detecting early, subtle responses to neoadjuvant therapy among patients with soft tissue sarcomas, investigators from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, nurses are recruiting newly diagnosed cancer patients into a smoking cessation program. At Marshfield Clinic Cancer Care, Marshfield, Wisconsin, nurses are teaching phlebotomists how to do venous access device (VAD) blood draws. And at St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson, Maryland, nurses have made depression assessment part of standard oncology care.

SAN FRANCISCO-In a phase II trial, recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor (rHuKGF, or KGF) significantly reduced severe mucositis and improved quality of life for patients with hematologic malignancies who underwent autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation.

WASHINGTON-With a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) visit looming, nurses at George Washington University Hospital used the opportunity to implement a staff education program to improve pain assessment and management.

SAN DIEGO, California-A symposium at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Congress addressed the challenges of managing cancer-related cognitive impairment, fatigue, and pain. Each of three speakers gave an overview of one of these problems, including contributing factors and current research, and then discussed new approaches to symptom management.

WASHINGTON-The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to review potential new endpoints for use in approving cancer drugs. The decision-making process will include public discussions involving practicing oncologists, academic physicians, the pharmaceutical industry, and advocacy groups.

SAN FRANCISCO-Most cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy expect to be cured, even when cautioned by their physicians that the chemotherapy can only relieve symptoms, according to Geetha N. Varma, MD. Research conducted at three cancer clinics in the metropolitan Milwaukee area showed that patients and physicians agree on the goal of treatment less than half the time and that almost a quarter of patients do not have a realistic idea of the likelihood of achieving the goal.

SAN FRANCISCO-In patients with potentially resectable cancer of the larynx, concurrent chemoradiotherapy cuts in half the incidence of larynx removal vs radiation therapy alone-and vs the current standard of care of induction chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy, Arlene A. Forastiere, MD, reported at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

SAN FRANCISCO-A new morphine formulation that combines immediate-release and extended-release beads offers a once-daily alternative to the controlled-release morphine formulation MS Contin (MSC). A study compared the new product, once-daily Morphelan (morphine sulfate, rapid onset extended relief [MROER]), a convenient and effective option for pain management, with twice-daily MSC.

ROCKVILLE, Md-To comply with a mandate in the Children’s Health Act of 2000, the FDA has issued an interim rule implementing additional requirements to safeguard children enrolled in clinical trials. "A key aspect of the new rule sets standards and procedures for assuring that children have assented to participating in clinical trials (when possible), and that their parents or guardians are able to give fully informed consent to the child’s participation in a study," the agency said in a statement.

SAN FRANCISCO-The theory that serotonin might mediate both depression and fatigue in cancer patients was debunked by results of a community-based study involving more than 700 cancer patients. Reporting on behalf of the University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP), Gary R. Morrow, MD, said, "Our data suggest that it is unlikely that serotonin is involved as a final common pathway for fatigue and depression."

WASHINGTON-A long-term University of Michigan study of smoking among 8th and 10th graders indicates that raising the price of cigarettes can prevent some youths from beginning to use tobacco products. The researchers examined three initiation points: any smoking at all (including experimentation), daily smoking, and smoking a half-pack or more a day. Depending on the type of initiation, an increase of 10% in the price of cigarettes decreased the probability that an adolescent would begin smoking by 3% to 10%.