ONS Connect

connectcover BLURRING THE ROLES: NURSES AS FAMILY CAREGIVERS FOR PATIENTS WITH CANCER

Oncology nurses care for patients compassionately, from diagnosis to cure or death. They get to know patients and their families intimately. But when the person with cancer is a family member, the role of oncology nurse can get blurred with the role of spouse, child, sibling, or grandchild. No statistics are available on the number of oncology nurses who are involved in the care of a family member. However, those nurses' experiences when caring for a family member are different than for non-nurses, as two ONS members share in the November issue of ONS Connect. 

LATEST NEWS

Stool Test Could Identify GI Cancers

A noninvasive DNA stool-screening test may be able to detect not only colorectal cancer but also common cancers above the colon, including pancreatic, stomach, biliary, and esophageal cancers. In clinical studies, the test was positive in 70% of digestive cancers but remained negative for all healthy controls.

Low Glucose Around Tumors Fuels Genetic Mutations

Genetic mutations that help colorectal cancer cells thrive appear to be fueled by low levels of glucose around the tumor, making the cells susceptible to treatments that target cancer cells' ability to turn glucose into energy.  

HPV Infection Influences Head and Neck Cancer Survival

Patients with head and neck cancer who have human papillomavirus-positive (HPV-positive) tumors survive longer and are more responsive to treatment compared to patients with HPV-negative tumors. A new study on the role of HPV in head and neck cancers helps to explain why African American patients with head and neck cancer live significantly shorter after treatment than Caucasian patients.

Less Sleep May Mean More Pain

Sleep problems are a common complaint of patients with cancer. A recent study suggests that sleep problems lead to increased pain in patients and that interventions aimed at insomnia improve pain and fatigue in this population.

New Drug Against Cancer Stem Cells May Prevent Disease Recurrence and Spread

Researchers have developed a way to identify chemicals that attack cancer stem cells and have discovered a drug that is far more effective than existing drugs in slowing breast cancer tumor growth. The drug, salinomycin, is a farm antibiotic that has not been tested on humans.

For more details about these news stories, see Just In and New Treatments, New Hope in the November issue .