​At the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, California, in April 2019, i3 Health surveyed oncology nurses regarding their educational needs on a variety of topics, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, cyclin dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, and biosimilars. Regardless of the survey topic, all respondents were asked about their practice role, practice setting, and pre...

Immune checkpoint inhibition is a form of immunotherapy that blocks checkpoint proteins on immune cells, boosting the body's immune response against cancer cells. Checkpoint inhibitors such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda®, Merck), nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Myers Squibb), atezolizumab (Tecentriq®, Genentech), durvalumab (Imfinzi®, AstraZeneca), cemiplimab (Libtayo®, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), ipilimumab (Yervoy®, Bristol-Myers Squibb), and avelumab (Bavencio®, EMD Serono and Pfizer) have dem...

​Cyclin dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 inhibitors have produced tremendous advances in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer through their targeting of hormone signals that stimulate the proliferation of cancer cells. Three CDK4/6 inhibitors have been FDA approved for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: palbociclib (Ibrance®, Pfizer Inc.), ribociclib (Kisqali®, Novar...

A biosimilar is a biological agent that is very much like another previously FDA-approved biological agent, called the reference drug. Biosimilars and their reference drugs are both made from living organisms, but they may be made in different ways and of slightly different substances. A biosimilar must demonstrate the same safety and efficacy and work in the same way as the reference drug, and it must also be used in the same way, at the same dose, and for the same condition. There are currentl...

Poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibition is a new form of targeted therapy that has exhibited effectiveness in treating several solid tumor types. Olaparib (Lynparza®, AstraZeneca), rucaparib (Rubraca®, Clovis Oncology), and niraparib (Zejula®, Tesaro) have all been approved for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Olaparib has also been approved to treat BRCA-mutated breast cancer and is currently being investigated in the treatment of prostate cancer. Another PARP inhibitor, talazopa...