Survivorship & Supportive Care - Cancer Currents Blog
News on research that affect cancer patients and survivors. Topics include managing treatment side effects, fertility preservation, and cancer’s long-term effects.
-
In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, NCI's Dr. Brigitte Widemann discusses recent advances in treatment, shared data, artificial intelligence, research participation, and survivorship. She explains why sustained federal investment and partnerships with patients, families, advocates, and researchers are essential to continued progress.
-
Documented conversations on goals of care are uncommon in AYA patients with advanced cancer. Researchers found that many patients did not have these discussions until the last month of life, and many asked about palliative care.
-
Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have developed a training program to help health providers reduce lung cancer stigma. In this interview, they discuss an ongoing NCI-funded nationwide clinical trial to test the training.
-
Younger cancer patients who filled out surveys about their symptoms experienced fewer cancer-related symptoms than those who did not complete the surveys, results from two clinical trials have shown. The findings show patient-reported outcome (PRO) surveys for children can give an accurate picture of how a child is feeling during the stress of treatment.
-
In a study of people with advanced lung cancer, palliative care delivered via telehealth was just as effective at improving patients’ quality of life and other measures of well-being as care delivered in person.
-
A 10-year-old program at an NCI-Designated Cancer Center has had substantial success at increasing the number of adolescents and young adults with cancer who get recommended treatment and services, including greater clinical trial participation and use of fertility services.
-
In a clinical trial, people with advanced cancer and cachexia treated with the experimental drug ponsegromab gained an average of 2 to 6 pounds over 12 weeks, depending on the dose they received. Participants treated with the placebo lost an average of 1 pound over the same time period.
-
Up to 40% of people being treated for cancer use cannabis to help with side effects like pain and anxiety. But with evidence from studies on cannabis lacking, clinicians feel ill-equipped to answer patient questions about its safety and effectiveness.
-
Osteonecrosis of the jaw was thought to be a rare side effect of drugs like denosumab (Xgeva) that lessen bone problems when cancer has spread to the bone. But a new study has found that the painful side effect is more common than once thought.
-
While treating people’s health-related social needs has always been a part of health care in one form or other, cancer centers and community cancer clinics increasingly are viewing the people they treat through a social lens and addressing social needs—including transportation, food, and housing—as part of patient care.