January 2016 Newsletter Delaware Diamond Chapter of Oncology Nursing Society
Hello All,
This newsletter has been delayed due to login problems on the ONS website. I believe it is fixed now.
As part of our lives as oncology nurses, we personally experience the loss of many of our patients in different ways. Some people are gone way before they are ready and way before we are ready. It is hard to understand sometimes. When our loved ones pass, we may experience intense emotional feelings. These feelings may be different from what is expected due to the frequent loss of people that we care about through our work.
I found this quote and would like to share it with you. The more I read it, the more I think that my thoughts will trend more to the positive. Let me know what you think if you like.
Regards,
Constance Hill
Your Newsletter Writer
As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.
To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.
To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from BrainyQuote.com Web site:
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February Chapter Meeting on the 11th
Topic: Melanoma treatment
Learn about Cotellic +Zelboraf treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma
Sponsor :Genentech
Speaker:Rajni Kannan, BS, MS, RN, ANP-BC
NYU Cancer Institute
New York, NY
Location: Krazy Kats (Yummy!) 528 Montchanin Rd, Wilmington, DE
Please log onto
If you have any questions, please contact Julie Lefkowitz at 410-241-8002
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March Chapter Meeting is on the 23th
Topic: DDCONS Annual Business Meeting 6:00
Sponsor: Celgene
Speaker: Denise Ferris Demeo
Location : Christiana Hilton 100 Continental Drive, Newark, DE 19713
RSVP by 3/17/16
or (302) 623-4836
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Non DDCONS Educational Opportunity / Dinner
Topic: Empliciti: The First and Only Immunostimulatory Antibody for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma
Program Information: 160225-EMP-2916
Call 1 866 326 7600 to make a reservation. Please refer to the meeting ID when making your reservation
Date: Wednesday Feb 24 at 6:00
Location: Firebirds 1225 Churchman’s Rd, Newark, De
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Save the Date April 13
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition Presents
The 19th Annual Breast Cancer Update
Location: The Rollins Center, 1131 N. Dupont Hwy Dover, DE
CEU’s available
Phone 866 312 DBCC
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Save the Date Friday March 18
Celebrate Oncology Nurse Certification at the Helen F. Graham Center
Time: 12 to 2:00
Door Prizes!!
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New treatment for advanced or metastaticliposarcoma!!!!!
On January 28, 2016, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved eribulin (HALAVEN®injection, Eisai Co., Ltd.) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma who have received a prior anthracycline-containing regimen.
The approval was based on an open-label, randomized (1:1), multicenter, active-controlled trial in 446 patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma who had received at least two prior systemic chemotherapies (one of which must have included an anthracycline) and had experienced disease progression within 6 months of randomization. Patients were randomized to receive either eribulin 1.4 mg/m2on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle or dacarbazine (at a dose of 850 mg/m2, 1000 mg/m2, or 1200 mg/m2chosen by the investigator prior to randomization) on day 1 of a 21-day cycle. Treatment was continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients were stratified by histology (liposarcoma vs. leiomyosarcoma), number of prior therapies (2 vs. greater than 2), and geographic region. Patients on the dacarbazine arm were not offered eribulin at the time of progression.
A total of 446 patients were randomized, 225 to eribulin and 221 to dacarbazine. The median age was 56 years (range: 24 to 83); 33% were male; 73% were White; 44% had ECOG performance status (PS) 0 and 53% had ECOG PS 1; 68% had leiomyosarcoma and 32% had liposarcoma; and 47% received more than two prior systemic chemotherapies.
The trial met its primary endpoint based on demonstration of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS) in the eribulin arm compared to the dacarbazine arm with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.61, 0.94; p=0.011). The median OS was 13.5 months in the eribulin arm and 11.3 months in the dacarbazine arm. There was no improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) or confirmed objective response rates in the overall study population.
Treatment effects of eribulin were limited to the stratified subgroup of patients with liposarcoma, observed in pre-planned, exploratory subgroup analyses of OS and PFS. The median OS was 15.6 vs. 8.4 months [HR 0.51 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.75)] and the median PFS was 2.9 vs. 1.7 months [HR 0.52 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.78)] in patients with liposarcoma treated with eribulin compared to dacarbazine, respectively. There was no evidence of efficacy for eribulin in patients with leiomyosarcoma: median OS of 12.8 vs. 12.3 months [HR 0.90 (95% CI: 0.69, 1.18)] and median PFS of 2.2 vs. 2.6 months [HR 1.05 (95% CI: 0.81, 1.35)] in patients with treated with eribulin compared to dacarbazine, respectively.
Safety was evaluated in the 223 patients with liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma who received eribulin in the trial. The most common (greater than or equal to 25%) adverse reactions were fatigue, nausea, alopecia, constipation, peripheral neuropathy, abdominal pain, and pyrexia. The most common (greater than or equal to 5%) grade 3-4 laboratory abnormalities were neutropenia, hypokalemia, and hypocalcemia.
The most common serious adverse reactions were neutropenia (4.9%) and pyrexia (4.5%). Febrile neutropenia occurred in 0.9% and fatal neutropenic sepsis in 0.9% of patients treated with eribulin. The most frequent adverse reactions leading to discontinuation were fatigue (0.9%) and thrombocytopenia (0.9%).
The recommended dose and schedule for eribulin is 1.4 mg/m2on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle.
The application was granted a Priority Review. The development program for eribulin for this indication received orphan drug designation. A description of the expedited programs is in the Guidance for Industry: Expedited Programs for Serious Conditions-Drugs and Biologics, available at:
Full prescribing information is available at:
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