Episode 425: How AI Can Help Healthcare Organizations Improve the Cancer Experience
The ONS Podcast
“In oncology specifically, where care is complex, artificial intelligence (AI) can really synthesize large volumes of clinical information, flag risks such as treatment complications, and support adherence to evidence-based pathways. For nurses specifically, this enables them more time for direct patient care, clinical judgment, and care coordination, and really practice to the top of their license while reducing repetitive time and administrative tasks,” Jenn Frith, DNP, RN, OCN®, NE-BC, associate vice president of clinical operations at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC, told Jaime...
info_outline
Episode 424: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: Cancers of the Pelvis
The ONS Podcast
“Think about what organs lie in the radiation field, and anything that lies in that radiation field is likely going to have some potential temporary—hopefully temporary—side effects. If you think about the pelvis, the things that live in there are the bladder, urethra, some bowel, rectum, reproductive organs, skin, some lymph nodes. And so, all of those things could potentially have associated side effects,” ONS member Kayla Kafka-Peterson, BSN, RN, ROCN™, nurse navigator and leader in the brachytherapy and peri-anesthesia programs at UCLA Health, in Los Angeles, CA, told Lenise...
info_outline
Episode 423: Pharmacology 101: Interaction Pathways
The ONS Podcast
“When we think of drug interactions, specifically, the National Cancer Institute actually defines this as a change in the way a drug acts in the body when taken with certain other drugs, herbals, or foods or when taken with certain medical conditions. Drug interactions may cause the drug to either be more or less effective or cause effects on the body that are not expected,” Carissa Ganihong, PharmD, BCOP, oncology and bone marrow transplantation clinical pharmacist at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology...
info_outline
Episode 422: An Overview of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“What I appreciate about our patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic leukemia is the consideration that they receive a cancer diagnosis, and the best thing for them to do is actually nothing. There is a large population of patients that we don’t recommend any type of treatment. We recommend that they establish care with an oncologist and that they have a relationship with those care teams,” ONS member Caitilin Murphy, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, chief nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®,...
info_outline
Episode 421: Medical Trauma in Oncology
The ONS Podcast
“There are a huge array of medical dynamics that people endure, and when they leave a lasting impact, a word that we don’t use widely enough is the word ‘trauma.’ There’s an entire category of phenomena in the medical arena that are, in fact, traumatic. One way we know that these experiences are traumatic is that we know that huge portions of people who experience things like cancer do indeed develop problems like [post-traumatic stress disorder],” James C. Jackson, PsyD, research professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN,...
info_outline
Episode 420: Long-Term Myelodysplastic Syndrome Considerations for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“We typically think of the disease progressing for our higher-risk patients because many of them already start with increased blasts or a lot of dysplasia. And they have these chromosomal variants that make them prone to evolving into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). With them, we can anticipate that they are going to progress to AML. And that’s what we’re trying to prevent. It’s kind of like a biologic evolution and not a switch,” ONS member Sara Tinsley-Vance, PhD, APRN, AOCN®, nurse practitioner and quality-of-life researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL, told Lenise...
info_outline
Episode 419: Pharmacology 101: Immunomodulators
The ONS Podcast
“Until immunomodulators, patients [with myeloma] did not have a great overall survival rate. But when we introduced lenalidomide, we started seeing our patients have life expectancies between five and seven years—which was unheard of prior to these immunomodulators going forward. I think it’s promising and allows patients to have quality of life versus therapy of life,” ONS member Daniel Verina, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, nurse practitioner for the multiple myeloma program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, TCTCN™, oncology clinical specialist...
info_outline
Episode 418: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: Colorectal Cancer
The ONS Podcast
“Radiation therapy is often extremely well tolerated in colorectal cancer. Technology has really changed things. But location of the tumor can affect side effects, such as radiation dermatitis. If a patient has a low-lying tumor, if it’s less than six centimeters from the anal verge, the patient is likely to have some skin reaction. It’s good to be proactive if that’s the case,” ONS member Lorraine Drapek, DNP, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, nurse practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®,...
info_outline
Episode 417: Pharmacology 101: Oncolytic Viral Therapy
The ONS Podcast
“There are a lot of specifics that nurses need to keep in mind as they are administering this herpes simplex modified virus to patients because accidental exposure is of concern both to the patient, to their family members, as well as to healthcare workers. I always recommend nurses wear personal protective equipment, such as a gown, safety glasses, gloves, and/or a face shield,” Heidi Finnes, PharmD, RPh, BCOP, director of clinical ambulatory practice at Mayo Clinic and assistant professor of pharmacy at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, MN, told Jaime...
info_outline
Episode 416: Cancer Treatments for Noncancer Indications: Radiation
The ONS Podcast
“When you have benign conditions, we’re actually treating 3 gray, so a significant difference [versus doses of 60 gray for brain cancer]. Typically, when you treat at a high dose, the goal is to destroy tissue, like cancer tissue or cancer cells. But when we give a low dose, the goal is actually to modulate inflammation. And what it does is it slows down those inflammatory cells or those cells that release the chemicals that cause pain and inflammation,” Amanda Meyer, DNP, APRN, CNP, family nurse practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN,...
info_outline“CDK4/6 inhibition is considered to be a milestone in the realm of targeted breast cancer therapy. The combination of CDK4/6 inhibitors with the endocrine therapy has really emerged as the foremost therapeutic modality for patients diagnosed with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer,” ONS member Teresa Knoop, MSN, RN, AOCN®-emeritus, independent nurse consultant in Nashville, TN, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during the latest episode in our series about anticancer drug classes.
Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0
Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by October 18, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to CDK inhibitors.
Episode Notes
- The NCPD activity for this episode has expired, but you can still earn NCPD through many other ONS Podcast episodes. Find a full list of opportunities.
- Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
- Pharmacology 101 series
- Episode 329: Pharmacology 101: BRAF Inhibitors
- Episode 313: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Other Pulmonary Complications
- Episode 295: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Pulmonary Embolism, Pneumonitis, and Pleural Effusion
- Episode 80: Patients Need Checkpoint Inhibitor Education
- Episode 5: New Guidelines for Managing Immunotherapy-Related Adverse Events
- ONS Voice articles:
- Combination CDK4/6 and Fulvestrant Has Survival Benefits in Late-Stage Breast Cancer
- FDA Approves Inavolisib With Palbociclib and Fulvestrant for Endocrine-Resistant, PIK3CA-Variant, HR-Positive, HER2-Negative, Advanced Breast Cancer
- FDA Approves Ribociclib With an Aromatase Inhibitor and Ribociclib and Letrozole Co-Pack for Early High-Risk Breast Cancer
- FDA Expands Early Breast Cancer Indication for Abemaciclib With Endocrine Therapy
- FDA Warns of Rare Lung Inflammation With Certain CDK4/6 Inhibitors
- Manage Immunotherapy-Related Diarrhea and Colitis
- Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Ribociclib
- The Case of the CTCAE Assessment for CDK4/6 Adverse Events
- ONS book: Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (fourth edition)
- Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Targeted Therapies: Treatment Options for Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer
- ONS Symptom Intervention: Prevention of Infection: General
- ONS Breast Cancer Learning Library
- ONS CDK4/6 Administration Checklist
- ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Toolkit
- Breastcancer.org
- Susan G. Komen: CDK4/6 Inhibitors
- Ibrance® (palbociclib) patient site
- Kisqali® (ribociclib) patient site
- Verzenio® (abemaciclib) patient site
To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.
To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.
To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.
Highlights From This Episode
“Common toxicity among this class of agents are things like nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue. All three are associated with low white blood cell counts, which we know as neutropenia, which can cause an increased risk of infection.” TS 10:46
“All three of these CDK4/6 inhibitors are pills taken by mouth, and in most cases they’re all given along with endocrine therapy treatments. So, patients will be taking more than one drug. Teach patients how they will take their medication. And the frequency among the three drugs may vary.” TS 13:33
“Patients and caregivers need to know the time of day to take the pills, whether they need to be taken with or without food, or what to do if they miss a dose. We need to help them with a system for organizing the medications. They may find it helpful to use a pill organizer or set reminders on their smartphone, their smartwatch, their computer.” TS 14:29
“Pharmacy and nursing, in my experience, collaborate greatly by determining those drug–drug and drug–food interactions. It is so crucial in determining those interactions and educating our patients because we have to remind patients at each appointment and review these drugs and foods and other things they may be taking, at each appointment. And that often can be done by either pharmacists or nurses or both in collaboration.” TS 23:29
“This class of drug is generally well-tolerated, and I do want nurses to know that that we can help patients with these side effects. And they are generally well-tolerated with appropriate management.” TS 30:55