Oncology CME

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is an immune-mediated response that occurs in recipients of allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). GvHD can be further categorized into acute and chronic cases. Maculopapular rash, follicular erythema, epidermolysis, are common manifestations of acute GvHD, in addition to liver and gastrointestinal dysfunction such as hyperbilirubinemia, nausea, and diarrhea. This activity focuses on chronic GvHD, which has more extensive multi-organ involvement including the liver, eyes, mouth, lungs, skin, genitalia, and gastrointestinal tract.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: hematologists and oncologists; nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists who specialize in oncology; and those who otherwise commonly care for or clinically encounter patients with GVHD.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a heterogeneous group of disorders caused by proliferation of abnormal clonal mastocytes, which accumulate in the skin and/or other organ systems. Mastocytosis, including SM, was reclassified as a distinct disease subtype in 2016, when the World Health Organization (WHO) removed mastocytosis from the myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) group. The WHO defines 5 SM subtypes, ranging from indolent SM, which is associated with mild symptoms and near-normal life expectancy, to mast cell leukemia, which is an aggressive hematologic malignancy associated with median survival of less than 1 year.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: hematology/oncology specialists, allergists, and clinical immunologists, dermatologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in those areas of specialty; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who may clinically encounter patients with systemic mastocytosis.

Each year, more than 290,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed, making it the leading cause of cancer among females in the United States. Although earlier screening and more effective treatment options have improved outcomes among people with breast cancer, more than 43,000 people die from this type of cancer each year. Throughout the course of breast cancer management, bone health remains an important consideration. In early breast cancer, chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure and endocrine therapy can contribute to BMD loss and subsequent osteoporosis and fracture. In advanced breast cancer, about 70% of all patients will experience bone metastases, placing patients at risk for SREs. In fact, breast cancer is associated with the highest risk of SREs among all tumor types.

Maintaining bone health in patients with breast cancer requires routine monitoring and proactive management to minimize the risk of BMD loss, osteoporosis, and SREs. Guidelines therefore recommend that patients with non-metastatic breast cancer initiating aromatase inhibitors or other treatment that causes bone loss undergo dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans to assess baseline BMD. Furthermore, patients at risk for osteoporosis should receive regular follow-up DXA scans to monitor for BMD loss. This represents an opportunity for ongoing education about the need for monitoring to ensure maintenance of optimal bone health.

This video activity focuses on ways to help early detection of breast cancer by learning the risk factors, the different screening and diagnostic modalities and guidelines to what kind of screening is needed, and most importantly, when should screening begin.

From October to December, 2022, 50% of the proceeds from this course will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Despite the advances in breast cancer detection and treatment, on the psychological side, clinicians who have been involved in the emotional care of cancer patients can report that a breast cancer diagnosis can nevertheless generate many concerns for patients, as well as their families. Psychological interventions for breast cancer patients have well-documented success in reducing distress and enhancing psychosocial adaptation to disease. As such, these interventions have been highlighted as important mechanisms by which physical health can be improved. This activity focuses on the common issues that impact psychological adjustment to breast cancer and interventions that will help optimize care in the cancer context.

There is a growing prevalence of breast cancer among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15 to 39 years old, and people of color (POCs). Breast cancer tends to present as more advance and aggressive forms in both of these demographics and is unfortunately associated with higher mortality rates than other populations in whom mortality rates have been decreasing over the last few decades.

This activity highlights the current trends, challenges, and health disparities experienced by AYAs and POCs with breast cancer, and provides insight into possible ways of improving screening and overall management of these patients.

Over 64,000 people develop and close 50,000 die each year of pancreatic cancer, and by 2030, pancreatic cancer is expected to surpass colorectal and breast cancer to become the second-leading cause of cancer death. Over 90% of whom have pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and while the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with localized disease is over 44%, patients with locally advanced (LAPC) or metastatic disease have a median overall survival of 12 to 14 months. Symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer are not usually evident in the early stages of the disease and may be intermittent and nonspecific, and more than half of patients have advanced disease by the time they are diagnosed.