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Episode 365: Radiation-Associated Secondary Cancers

Release Date: 05/30/2025

Episode 380: Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Considerations for Nurses

The ONS Podcast

“One powerful, overlooked aspect of colorectal cancer survivorship is the emotional and identity transformation that our survivors undergo—and really how little space is given in the clinical arena for that. No one really talks about this ‘invisible recovery.’ Facing mortality can lead to prolonged changes is values, relationships, and life goals. And these experiences aren’t captured in lab results or imaging scans, but they really shape how survivors live, love, and heal and continue with their lives,” ONS member Kris Mathey, DNP, APRN-CNP, AOCNP®, gastrointestinal...

Episode 379: Pharmacology 101: BCR-ABL1 Inhibitors

The ONS Podcast

“All of these TKIs [tyrosine kinase inhibitors] inhibit BCR-ABL1 in some way, shape, or form. When BCR-ABL1 is mutated, it has uncontrolled tyrosine kinase activity, leading to rapid cell proliferation. When we then inhibit that BCR-ABL1 that’s been mutated, we disrupt this abnormal signaling pathway that drives CML [chronic myeloid leukemia] cell proliferation and survival, ultimately leading to decreased cancer cell growth, increased apoptosis or cell death, and potentially inducing a disease remission,” Samantha Maples, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist supervisor for...

Episode 378: Considerations for Adolescent and Young Adult Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

The ONS Podcast

“She’s triple negative and has a very, very aggressive tumor. Instead of going on spring break that year, she sat in our chemo room and got chemo. Her friends from college are good to try to keep her involved and try to surround her and encourage her, but they’re right now in very, very different spots in their lives. She’s fighting for her life; her friends are fighting for the grade they get in a class—and that’s different,” ONS member Kristi Orbaugh, MSN, NP, AOCN®, AOCNP®, nurse practitioner at Community Hospital North Cancer Center in Indianapolis, IN, told Jaime Weimer,...

Episode 377: Creating and Implementing Radiopharmaceutical Policies and Procedures

The ONS Podcast

“Policies help make sure that we’re giving patients the right education and discharge instructions. Radiation doesn’t end when the syringe is empty. Patients go home with potential radioactive exposure. They need to know how to protect their families, what precautions to take, and what healthcare providers can do if something goes wrong—like a spill, extravasation, or even a pregnant staff member who’s involved in the care. This isn’t just a documentation exercise. It’s about making sure every part of the system speaks the same language when it comes to safety, handling, and...

Episode 376: ONS 50th Anniversary: The Science Behind the History of Nursing Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

The ONS Podcast

“At least some of the answer to these issues of compassion fatigue and burnout have to do making our practice environments the very, very best they can be so that nurses and other clinicians can really connect and care for patients in the ways that they want to be able to do that—and the patients need them to be able to do. I think there’s a lot that is here already and will be coming, and I feel pretty optimistic about it,” ONS member Anne Gross, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in...

Episode 375: Pharmacology 101: VEGF Inhibitors

The ONS Podcast

“We’re really using these in many, many types of malignancies. But you can see this class of drug, these monoclonal antibodies, the small molecule inhibitors, being used in colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, renal cell carcinoma, brain cancers, hepatocellular, non-small cell lung cancer, gynecologic malignancies, so lots of different types of cancers where we’re seeing these drugs used,” Danielle Roman, PharmD, BCOP, manager of clinical pharmacy services at the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of...

Episode 374: Colorectal Cancer Treatment Considerations for Nurses

The ONS Podcast

“Colorectal cancer treatment is not just about eliminating a disease. It’s about preserving life quality and empowering patients through every phase. So I think nurses are really at the forefront that we can do that in the oncology nursing space. So from early detection to survivorship, the journey is deeply personal. Precision medicine, compassionate care, and informed decision-making are reshaping outcomes. Treatment’s just not about protocols. It’s about people,” ONS member Kris Mathey, DNP, APRN-CNP, AOCNP®, gastrointestinal medical oncology nurse practitioner at The James...

Episode 373: Biomarker Testing in Prostate Cancer

The ONS Podcast

“Next-generation sequencing, or NGS, can be used to help us determine if the patient has specific biomarkers we can identify and use to target for treatment. Certain findings can tell us if a particular treatment might work for that patient, and we can see if there are any genetic variants we might have a biomarker targeted agent to use to treat them with,” ONS member Jackie Peterson, MSN, RN, OCN®, NE-BC, MBA, ambulatory nurse manager at the University of Chicago Medical Center in Illinois, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a...

Episode 372: Pharmacology 101: Proteasome Inhibitors

The ONS Podcast

“The proteasome itself, it really helps us unfold or get rid of misfolded proteins or degradations of different cells. We used to have garbage disposals in our sinks, and we used to put food product in there. If your garbage disposal is clogged, then everything backs up. So that’s kind of what’s really going on in the cell itself, is that I’m building up these unnecessary proteins that we should be getting rid of, and it actually causes apoptosis or cell death,” ONS member Daniel Verina, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, nurse practitioner for the multiple myeloma program at Mount Sinai Medical...

Episode 371: ONS 50th Anniversary: ONS’s Rich History of International Work Advances the Future of Global Oncology Nursing

The ONS Podcast

“We want to make sure that nurses, have opportunities both in our local communities as well as international communities, to engage in courageous dialog with others who may think or look different than we do and whose culture or language may also be different. The difference is what brings us together and allows us to have more of this tapestry of what we are about—ensuring that we advance health for all and that we are able to move forward together,” ONS member Ashley Leak-Bryant, PhD, RN, OCN®, professor at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, told Darcy Burbage, DNP,...

More Episodes

“From a radiation standpoint, the biggest thing we’re looking at is the treatment site, the dosage, and the way the radiation has been delivered. There are different ways that we can focus radiation using methods such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, flattening radiation beams, and proton beam therapy to try to help minimize radiation exposure to healthy tissues to minimize patient risk for secondary cancers,” ONS member Andrea Matsumoto, DNP, AGACNP-BC, AOCNP^®, radiation oncology nurse practitioner at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, MI, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS^®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about radiation-associated secondary cancers.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by May 30, 2026. 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 radiation-associated secondary cancers.

Episode Notes

ONS Voice articles:

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To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [email protected].

Highlights From This Episode

“It’s hypothesized that radiation can also induce different DNA mutations in healthy cells or in tissues surrounding cancers that we’re treating, including alterations in the structure of signal genes or chromosomes, or also causing changes in gene expression, which may help develop a neoplasia or a cancer in a patient’s future. The development of cancer carcinogenesis that is impacted or caused by radiation has to do with the chemicals that are produced, the impact it has on cell proliferation, and how these changes and mutations can also pass on to daughter cells in the future as cells are replicating.” TS 2:34

“Younger people are much more susceptible to having a secondary cancer, especially because we know with treatments, we expect them to live a longer time. And once patients get to 5 and 10 years out from radiation is when we may see a secondary cancer develop. We also have seen research showing that females may be more sensitive to some of the carcinogenic effects of radiation. Underlying diseases and genetic mutations can also impact patients’ risk.” TS 5:27

“I think a big thing is remembering that although the risk is really small, the risks does exist, and so it’s something that we want to bring up with patients. And even if it is something 20 years down the line for a child being treated and making sure that this information is written down somewhere. So when reviewing records, anyone from a care provider to a family member might be able to say, ‘Okay, I see that, and I’m going to keep that on my radar.’ And that’s another big benefit of using NP- and nurse-led survivorship clinics and creating survivorship care plans.” TS 17:20

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