Treatment Clinical Resource Areas
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) are procedures that restore stem cells that have been destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
Welcome to the ONS Chemotherapy Resource Area, a site dedicated exclusively to the safe delivery of cancer treatment via continuous infusion. This resource area focuses on drug delivery, delivery of supportive care drugs and drug delivery in a palliative care setting. It takes an oncology nurse with special knowledge to deliver these complex treatments.
Advances in treatments and improved outcomes for oncology patients can be attributed to clinical trials. Clinical trials provide not only the opportunity to gain access to potentially promising new treatment, but also the ability to help future patients. In addition to treatment clinical trials, research in the areas of genetics, diagnoses, supportive care and prevention is ongoing. Oncology nurses are critical to this research process. Oncology nurses are critical to this research process, involved in designing and operationalizing research studies, protecting the rights of patients who choose to participate in research, and safely delivering the treatments.
Comparative effectiveness research (CER), a type of research which evaluates drug, technologies and treatment options through decision analyses methodologies has been a focal point of healthcare reform policy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated 1.1 billion dollars to CER and established the Federal Coordinating Council for CER. Additionally the Institute of Medicine established the 100 initial national priorities for CER, many which are oncology related.
The use of complementary and integrative therapies by people with cancer is a growing trend. Many Americans who see traditional health professionals also use herbal remedies, although they are often unwilling to share this information. It is an enormous challenge for health care professionals to keep up with the body of knowledge related to these therapies and their potential interactions-known and unknown, adverse and beneficial-with conventional therapies. Today's health care professionals need access to information about these therapies, their known side effects, and potential interactions with other therapies.
Radiation is the use of high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This resource area provides additional information and resources on radiation therapy.
Surgery is a medical procedure that involve cutting the body open to remove a tumor or repair an injury.Surgery often is used initially to remove tumors. Depending on the type of cancer, surgery may be performed one time or in several stages. Reconstructive surgery also may be used at this time or later in the treatment process.
Advances in science have led to the discovery and identification of specific proteins and molecular pathways whose malfunction lead to carcinogenesis. This information has been used to development cancer medications that are able that target the cancer cells without damaging the normal cells, thus leading to less side effects. There are many types of targeted therapies including monoclonal antibodies, targeted kinase inhibitors, Deacetylase inhibitors and Proteasome inhibitors.