/ BONUS NEWS BITS
Broward Oncology Nursing Society
February 10th / Winter 2004
BONUS LEADERSHIP
PRESIDENT :
Lloyd Robinson

PRESIDENT ELECT:
Colette Dulude-Schiietromo

PAST PRESIDENT:
Linda Neff

TREASURER:
Lynn Coopersmith

SECRETARY:
ROSE ANN SCHNEIDER

MEMBERSHIP:
CARLEEN STEINBERG

DIRECTOR AT LARGE:
REGGIE DOUGHERTY
[email protected]
DIRECTOR AT LARGE:
Alisha Stein

PROGRAM CHAIR:
Rosie Gonzalez

PROGRAM CHAIR:
Martine Avello

NOMINATIONS:
Theresa Duensing

Archives:
PAT COX
[email protected]
NEWSLETTER:
CONNI RIDOLPH

BONUS Next MEETING DATE:
April 13th , 2004
Topic: Tumor Lysis
(Sanofi)
Upcoming Calendar Events:
February:
February 1st-7th: National Patient Recognition Week
March:
National Colorectal Month
National Social Worker Month
National Nutrition Month
March 6: National Lymphedema “D” Day
March 10th-14th: NCCN Practice Guidelines Meeting, Hollywood, FL
April:
Cancer Control Month
April 1st-7th: Testicular Cancer Awareness Week
April 7th: World Health Day
April 19th-25th: Oral, Head & Neck Cancer Week
April 29th: Oncology Nursing Day
April 29th- May 2nd: ONS Annual Congress, Anaheim, CA
ONS HEADQUARTERS
125 ENTERPRISE DR. PITTSBURGH, PA 15275
412-859-5219
WWW.ONS.ORG
/ B.O.N.U.S - 2004 Welcome Letter
It is with great pride and pleasure I am able to serve as President of BONUS 2004. I would first like to wish you all a Happy New Year! May this New Year be filled with health, and surround you with loved ones.
ONS has been a great support over the years to our community and me personally, in caring for people with cancer. The friendships I have made and the people I have met through our organization are very special.
Looking ahead at this year I am very excited. We had our first BONUS Board of Directors meeting on January 10th. We have an excellent team of professionals working towards the same common goals. It was a very lively and productive meeting. The board is dedicated to serving ONS members’ needs, provide educational tools, and increase cancer awareness in our community. We want to continue building on the efforts our chapter has nursed over the years.
This year we would like to extend, the opportunity to earn additional CEU’s, to our existing and new members. We feel it is important for our members to keep abreast of new drugs being introduced for cancer care and be well informed in our fast paced medical field. For this reason, we elected to add an additional educational dinner meeting in September. BONUS Chapter will offer a Chemotherapy Update for members and interested professionals. We will partner with pharmaceutical companies to get this accomplished. Reggie Dougherty, RN, BSN, OCN and Theresa Duensing, RN, MSN, OCN will facilitate the lectures. This will be a win, win situation for BONUS.
The board members, and I, are looking forward to a great year of service to all of our members and the BONUS community. We are ready to answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to contact any of us. You are
the reason we exist!
We Are BONUS!
Sincerely,
Lloyd E. Robinson, Jr., RN, BA, OCN
President
B.O.N.U.S – Local Upcoming Education
Dear BONUS member:
We are pleased to announce that BONUS chapter will hold a “CHEMOTHERAPY UPDATE” program for all members. These programs will overview current info for oncology nurses to update their knowledge and/or help them to prepare for the OCN exam. We are proud to announce that Theresa Duensing, NP, Colette Dulude-Schietromo, NP, and Reggie Dougherty, RN from our own BONUS chapter will be presenting the information to chapter members. In addition, we will have approximately 20 pharmaceutical vendors to provide the most current information on their products.
The cost to BONUS members will be $10.00 for a total of 4.0 contact hours.
Non-members will be $30.00.
Below please find the meeting information:
Signature Grand
6900 West State Road 84, Plantation, FL 33317
(954) 424-9447
Date: Saturday, April 17, 2004
Time: 7:30 am registration. Program from 8:00 am – 12:00nn
Breakfast & Boxed Lunch will be provided
Agenda:
-Health Promotion (Prevention, detection, screening)
-Quality of Life: Comfort, Coping, Sexuality, and Supportive Care
-Side Effect Management: Protective Mechanisms
-Oncologic Emergencies: Tumor Lysis Syndrome, Superior Vena Cava syndrome, etc.
-Scientific Basis for Practice: Tumor classification, Treatment Modalities, Carcinogenesis
Please fill out the attached form and mail it back by March 15, 2004 to confirm your spot at this fantastic educational program.
Thanks,
Lloyd Robinson, Jr.
President, BONUS chapter 2004
Special Article Review
By: Reggie Dougherty RN, BSN, OCN
Trisenox® (Arsenic Trioxide)
Arsenic-containing preparations have been in medical use for more than 2400 years. Arsenic-based therapy was used in the United States and Europe more than 100 years for leukemia therapy, as well as, for treatment of infections. However, these treatments were subsequently replaced by modern chemotherapy and antibiotics. More recently, interest in arsenic-based therapy was revived by reports of its anti-leukemic effect in some traditional Chinese preparations. Chinese scientists subsequently found that the active ingredient was arsenic trioxide.
In September 1999, The FDA has approved Trisenox® (arsenic trioxide) for the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) who have not responded to, or have relapsed following the use of all trans-retinoic acid and anthracycline-based chemotherapy, which is considered first line therapy.
APL is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is characterized by a rapid accumulation of abnormal white blood cells in the bone marrow and blood resulting in anemia, susceptibility to infections, bleeding, and hemorrhage. Patient’s first line therapy is currently treated with all trans-retinoic acid and anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Response to therapy is good, but close to 30% of patients will relapse with their disease. An estimated 1500 new cases of APL are diagnosed each year, of which an estimated 400 patients will not respond to, or will relapse from, first line therapy. Trisenox® now offers a new alternative.
The safety and effectiveness of Trisenox® was evaluated in the treatment of relapsed or refractory APL in a multicenter clinical study involving 40 patients who received arsenic trioxide infusions. Twenty- eight of the 40 patients (70%) had a remission of their leukemia and met the study-defined criteria for "response". The median time to remission was 51 days. Arsenic trioxide converts the immature cancerous white blood cells into normal white blood cells, an effect similar to that of all trans-retinoic acid. A consequence of this can be a sudden increase in the white blood cell count. In some cases the increase in white blood cells is accompanied by signs of inflammation and fluid accumulation, particularly in the lining of the heart and lungs. This is termed the "APL differentiation syndrome" and can be fatal. The usual treatment is to treat with high dose steroids. Trisenox® can also cause an important change in the electrocardiogram, an increase in what is termed the Q- T interval. An increase in the Q-T interval can in some cases lead to irregular heart rhythms that can be fatal. Significant increases of the Q-T interval appeared in 16 of the 40 patients (40%). In those patients, no serious abnormal rhythm developed from Trisenox. Other adverse effects of Trisenox® are abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue, skin changes, and fluid accumulation. Most of the adverse effects were considered mild (Grade 1/2 NCI Criteria) and resolved after therapy was completed.
Trisenox® has many different mechanisms of action, which have lead the FDA to give it Orphan Drug Approval in a variety of hematologic malignancies. Areas currently under researched are AML, CML, Multiple Myeloma, Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and Hepato-Cellular Carcinoma.
The most promising information, and the place I have seen great results within my practice, have been in the area of MDS. While no therapy for MDS has improved this disease, many offer to improve quality of life and prolong survival. Trisenox®, with its non-chemotherapy like side effect profile, is a great option for elderly patients. In studies, 1/3 of patients respond to therapy. Results have been in both high and low risk disease, with many patients becoming transfusion independent. Trisenox® has been shown to slow the progression of the disease and has worked to increase all three lineages (WBC, RBC, Platelets). One patient in particular did not have a significant rise in his counts, but when we looked at transfusions 6 months before therapy and 6 months after the start of therapy, we noticed he had a decrease in his transfusion requirements by 50%. To us, this was a win!
Trisenox® maybe an old poison, but to us, is a new treatment option for patients.
References:
Prescribing information: TRISENOX® (arsenic trioxide) injection. (2000).
Seattle, WA. Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
Antman, K. (2001). Introduction: the history of arsenic trioxide in cancer therapy.
Oncologist, 6 (Suppl 2), 1-2.
Soignet, S.L., Frankel, S.R., Douer, D., Tallman, M.S., Kantarjian, H., Calleja, E., Stone, R.M.,
Kalaycio, M., Scheinberg, D.A., Steinherz, P., Sievers, E.L., Coutré, S., Dahlberg, S.,
Ellison, R., & Warrell, R.P., Jr. (2001). United States multicenter study of arsenic
trioxide in relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia. Journal of Clinical Oncology,
19, 3852-3860.
List, A., Beran, M., DiPersio, J. Slack, J., Vey, N., Rosenfeld, CS, & Greenberg, P. (2003).
Opportunities for Trisenox® (arsenic trioxide) in the treatment of myelodysplastic
syndromes. Leukemia, 17, 1499-1507.
Cheson, B., Zwiebel, J. A., Dancey, J., & Murgo, A. (2000). Novel therapeutic agents for
the treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Seminars in Oncology, 27, 560-577.
Waxman, S., & Anderson, K. C. (2001). History of the development of arsenic derivatives
in cancer therapy. Oncologist, 6(suppl 2), 3-10.
BONUS IS GOING PAPERLESS!!
Submitted by the 2004 Bonus Board
Starting in 2004, Bonus is transitioning to a paperless system, and planning for its final transition by June 2004. In order to be successful with this transition we are asking all BONUS members to supply our membership chair (Carleen Steinberg at ) with your current e-mail address.
We will transition by sending out e-mails and paper copies of membership renewals, notifications, and meeting flyers until June 2004. June 2004 you will either receive an email or it will be your responsibility to check our BONUS web page calendar for details of our events at: http://bonus.ons.wego.net
Please look on our web page for this section on our home page to sign up to receive updates as they are posted :
Sign Up Here To Receive BONUS Chapter Announcements / / /
/ Click here to receive BONUS Chapter Announcements by email!
Thanks for you time and consideration with this change.
For questions and/or concerns please contact your 2004 president Llyod Robinson at
2004 BONUS PARTICIPATION
SCHOLARSHIP POINT SYSTEM
1.) OCN Certification exam testing (initial) 15 POINTS
2.) OCN re-certification exam 10 POINTS
3.) AOCN certification exam testing (initial) 15 POINTS
4.) AOCN re-certification exam 10 POINTS
5.) Attending local bonus meeting 5 POINTS
6.) Holding a board position 15 POINTS
7.) Serving on a committee 8 POINTS
8.) Writing an article for the newsletter 8 POINTS
9.) Participating in an ONS event
(I.e. Survivors day, triple touch, relay for life) 5 POINTS
10.) Lecturing or speaking on oncology to colleagues
or patients in a formal setting 5 POINTS
11.) Attending a national meeting 10 POINTS
12.) Furthering career for BSN or MSN 5 POINTS
each year
Purpose: To encourage leadership participation and continuing education through a point system in which you will be rewarded with a $125.00 grant towards an educational item, course, or event of your choice.
Requirements:
1.  For every 25 points acquired the $125.00 educational grant will be awarded, not to exceed one award in a calendar year. Calendar year will be from January to December of a current year.
2.  You will be required to show proof of attendance or purchase for your final check to be awarded.
Miscellaneous News
NATIONAL ONS ELECTIONS ARE OPEN!
Let your voice be heard. Vote in the 2004 ONS national election. Polls open at 12:01 am EST on January 2, 2004, and close February 14, 2004, at 5 pm EST. To make voting more convenient, the ONS Nominating Committee is pleased to remind you of the option to vote online.
Voting Online is Easy!
To submit your vote online, please follow these simple steps:
1. Access the ONS Online Election Area at
http://www.ons.org/xp6/ONS/Information.xml/Election.xml
2. Then, click on "Full Candidate Information and to Cast Your Vote" at the top of the page.
3. Enter your unique Voter Member Number and E-Signature.
4. Review the information concerning each candidate and follow the instructions on the screen to submit your vote.
Please note: If you have received this e-mail, you will not receive a paper ballot. If you prefer to vote using the paper ballot, or have questions about your ballot, please email mailto: or call 412-859-6223.
Thank you for participating in the future of ONS!
ONS State Health Policy Liaison Needed for Florida
ONS is seeking members with backgrounds in health policy and legislative issues to serve as state health policy liaison (SHPL) for Florida beginning in January 2004.
SHPLs must be nurses who are registered voters and members of their state nurses associations, preferably living in or within driving distance of their state capital. Past experience in dealing with health policy issues, communicating with legislators, and following legislative trends is highly desirable.
ONS will support attendance at the Nurse in Washington Internship (see related article above) for new SHPL’s to help prepare them for the role. Limited financial reimbursement also is available to support state activities related to the role. In return, SHPL’s are expected to assist ONS with the tracking of pertinent legislation in their respective states, respond to requests from ONS to contact state or federal legislators regarding pertinent issues, help mobilize other nurses in their states in support of these issues, and attend relevant meetings in their states upon request. Interested applicants should submit a letter expressing their interest in serving as an SHPL, a current resume, and a summary of their experience with legislative activities by November 1 to the ONS Executive Team, 125 Enterprise Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15275-1214. For more information, call ONS toll free at 866-257-4ONS (412-859-6100; .)
Broward Chapter ONS Website:
All members are welcome to add to the calendar with upcoming events and input job postings. You can also post photos of events etc. on our local web page. www.bonus.ons.wego.net (don’t forget to save it in your favorites!)