Cancer Genetics SIG
Membership Communiqué
July 2015
Dear SIG Members,
I am hoping that you are all enjoying these summer months despite the very variable weather across our nation and taking some time for rest and rejuvenation.
Cancer Genetics SIG Leadership
Thank you for all who participated in this year’s ONS elections. I am happy to announce that Julia Eggert, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, APRN-BC, AOCN® was elected as the Cancer Genetics SIG Coordinator-Elect. Julia is the Mary Cox Professor and Coordinator of the Healthcare Genetics doctoral program at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Julia has extensive experience in the field of cancer genetics and actively provides cancer risk assessment and genetic testing services at Clemson, as well as an extensive body of research and publications. Julia has also been an active Oncology Leader at the national level with ONS and also with ISONG. She has been an active member of the CAG SIG Leadership team for many years and most recently completed her term as Director-at-Large for the ONS Board of Directors. Our SIG will be well served by her leadership.
ONS Congress 2015 Overview
I am very pleased to report that the two major presentations sponsored by the Cancer Genetics SIG at the 40th annual ONS Congress in Orlando, FL were exceptionally well attended. SIG members Cathy Goetsch, MSN, ARNP, AOCP and Alice Kerber, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, AOCN® provided an excellent preconference session entitled “Cancer Genetics: Genetic Counseling, Ethical Issues and the Nurse’s Role”. Their presentation was received by over 100 Oncology Nurses – an exceptional turnout reflective of the interest in this important topic.
Our Cancer Genetics SIG meeting was also well attended with over 85 participants, the highest turnout that we have experienced in several years! SIG meetings which offered nursing contact hours were listed in the program syllabus, which I think helped with our increased attendance. I presented an overview of “Cancer Risk Evaluation in the 21st Century: Implications for Cancer Genetics Nursing”, which included a review of the impact of Next Generation Sequencing Panels with pedigree case examples. The CAG SIG Leadership team is already working on identifying topics for the ONS Congress 2016 planning committee for presentations of interest to oncology nursing. Hopefully several of our seven submitted topics will be accepted. Recently, ONS extended an online survey to membership asking for their suggestions for Congress topics – I encourage you to submit your thoughts and ideas especially as it relates to the rapidly expanding field of cancer genetics.
The minutes from the brief SIG Planning Meeting, as well as the presentation slides for the topic presented can be found on the Cancer Genetics SIG Virtual Community listed under the “Meeting” tab. There are links within the minutes that will take you to the slide presentation which you are welcome to download and review.
The preconference session and SIG meeting at Congress afforded Alice, Cathy and me the opportunity to meet and dialogue with numerous nurses, members of our SIG, as well as nonmembers. Many nurses expressed concerns about their role in the area of cancer risk assessment, their knowledge about cancer genetics, the oncology nurses role and scope of practice, and clinical dilemmas with genetic testing results, both for germline and somatic tumor analysis. We encouraged many of these nurses to share or express their concerns and questions through the Discussion board on the Cancer Genetics SIG Virtual Community. I am certain that there are many nurses sharing some of these same questions or that may have already found a solution for certain dilemmas. Their interest and enthusiasm demonstrates how critically important our area of clinical practice is in the 21st century. I encourage all of our SIG members to review the discussion board and offer suggestions to those presenting clinical challenges.
SIG Membership Communication
There are a few methods available for communication with and among Cancer Genetic SIG members. I wanted to highlight a few of these that have been recently updated.
A. Cancer Genetics SIG Virtual Community page
If you have visited the SIG Virtual Community (VC) recently, you will notice that the VC has been redesigned. This is part of an ongoing project by National ONS to improve and streamline the web-based communication. Access to the VC still requires you to have a separate log in, it is not automatically provided with membership to the SIG. There are directions found on the SIG VC page, as well as referenced in the minutes of the SIG planning presentation. Lisa Aiello makes continued efforts to post important information such as announcements for Cancer Genetics education conferences, learning opportunities, new relevant publications and other announcements consistent with our SIG mission.
B. Cancer Genetics SIG Facebook™ page
Our SIG VC Coordinator, Lisa Aiello, MSN, RN, AOCNS®, APN-C has been responsible for providing consistent updates and posting to the SIG Facebook ™page. If you are a Facebook user, I encourage you to “LIKE” the Cancer Genetics SIG Facebook™ page which will gain you access to the daily postings. Lisa has been keeping it up to date with postings related to new technologies, new publications and other relevant topics pertaining to cancer risk assessment, genetic testing and somatic tumor testing that would be of interest to our SIG members.
C. Cancer Genetics SIG Newsletter
Pat Kelly, DNP, APRN, CNS, AOCN® and Julia Eggert, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, APRN-BC, AOCN® are the Co-Editors of our SIG Newsletter. Our most recent publication was issued in May, 2015 with some very informative articles. You can find this current issue in the “NEWS” tab of the Virtual Community. Pat and Julia welcome any SIG members to submit an article for publication in the newsletter. Their contact information can be found on the VC under the “LEADERSHIP” tab as well as in the minutes and presentation materials from the SIG meeting at ONS Congress.
Articles can cover a broad variety of topics: review of a specific inherited cancer syndrome, challenging or unusual clinical case presentation, update on national guidelines or review of a recent publication. Topics can include both cancer risk assessment, and inherited cancer syndromes as well as somatic tumor testing utility or Next Generation Sequencing outcomes. Consider submitting an article to Pat and Julia for publication in the newsletter! Deadline for next edition is September 1, 2015.
Genetic Nursing Education Collaboration with the Jackson Laboratory
The CAG SIG Leadership team is very enthused about a recent invitation to collaborate with the Jackson Laboratory on a NIH grant application submitted to obtain funding to develop a Cancer Genetics Education program for oncology nurses. In early May, 2015, I was contacted by the Director of Clinical and Continuing Education Program at Jackson Laboratory to gage our interest in collaborating on this project. The timing of the email was fortuitous as it coincided with ONS Congress and Cathy Goetsch, Alice Kerber and myself were able to conduct a conference call with the key individuals from Jackson Laboratory to explore the proposal in more detail. Subsequent to that initial call, additional calls were held with the entire CAG SIG Leadership as well as connections made with appropriate National ONS representatives.
The Jackson Laboratory is proposing the development of a sustainable, multi-faceted course focused on cancer genetics and application to oncology nursing clinical practice. The grant has been endorsed by ONS and the CAG SIG and the application was submitted in late May 2015. Anticipation of a decision is expected in the October-November, 2015 timeframe and if successfully accepted, the targeted implementation would be April 2016. ONS has indicated that if successful, Jackson Laboratory will be granted time and space at ONS Congress 2016 for the pilot offering of this course. This is indeed an exciting opportunity for oncology nurses! More information to come in the next newsletter and communique later this year.
Important Announcements and Notifications:
A. Significant article/news about breast cancer genetic testing:
1. JAMA.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25849179?dopt=Abstract> 2015 Apr 7;313(13):1347-61. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.5985. Association of type and location of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations with risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
2. Risk of Breast and Ovarian Cancers May Differ by BRCA1/2 Mutation Type http://www.ascopost.com/ViewNews.aspx?nid=25658 (ASCO synopsis of the JAMA article)
Big news about Color Genomics and their $249.00 genetic testing for breast cancer. This may be a game changer. http://www.nytimes.com/…/more-accurate-affordable-tests-for…
4. Proposed Medicare Guidelines revisions for coverage of BRCA Genetic Testing http://thednaexchange.com/2015/05/17/i-love-them-i-love-them-not-proposed-revised-medicare-guideline...
B. The City of Hope: Intensive Cancer Risk Assessment Course
The City of Hope in Duarte, CA has an outstanding track record for providing education and training in the field of cancer genetics and inherited cancer risk assessment through their grant funded educational program called the Intensive Cancer Risk Assessment Course. Applications are now open to attend this program and with additional funding they have been able to expand the types of offerings that applicants can select, including web based exclusively or their traditional course model of web-based and on-site training. Please see the information outlined below and consider seeking enrollment in this excellent educational opportunity.
2016 Intensive Course application is now live at http://www.cityofhope.org/ccg-intensive-course-description. New funding has allowed us to update the curriculum and include distance-only options:
A. Track 1: Full Spectrum Multi-modal Training (12 weeks distance learning and Web conferences, followed by four days of on-campus workshops)
B. Track 2: Full Spectrum Distance-only Training (12 weeks distance learning and Web conferences only)
C. Track 3: Breast-ovarian Sub-specialty Training (Distance learning and Web conferences only)
D. Track 4: Gastrointestinal Sub-specialty Training (Distance learning and Web conferences only)
Application deadline – AUGUST 1, 2015
Course dates – distance learning – NOVEMBER 6, 2015-FEBRUARY 19, 2016
On-site COURSE – FEBRUARY 23-26,2016
Your colleagues who may be interested can find additional information, along with the course application, on the CCG Website: http://www.cityofhope.org/intensive-course-in-cancer-risk-assessment.