Episode 405: Long-Term Multiple Myeloma Considerations for Oncology Nurses

"The disease is increasingly managed as a chronic condition rather than a diagnosis with an immediate terminal outcome. Particularly, with earlier and more effective and sustained treatment options, we can make this disease a very chronic, long-term, livable condition. I want to make sure that patients are aware that this is not a death sentence. This is something that patients can live with for the long term," Ann McNeill, RN, MSN, APN, nurse practitioner at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, TCTCN™, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about long-term multiple myeloma considerations for oncology nurses. 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 March 6, 2027. Ann McNeill is on the speakers' bureau for Pfizer. This financial relationship has been mitigated. All other 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 management of long-term side effects related to multiple myeloma and treatment. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 401: Multiple Myeloma Treatment Considerations for Oncology Nurses Episode 398: An Overview of Multiple Myeloma for Oncology Nurses Episode 339: A Lesson on Labs: How to Monitor and Educate Patients With Cancer Episode 201: Which Survivorship Care Model Is Right for Your Patient? ONS Voice articles: Effective Care Transitions Are Essential for New Multiple Myeloma Treatments Infection Prevention for Oncology Nurses Multiple Myeloma Prevention, Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Recommendations Nurse-Led Survivorship Programs Sexual Considerations for Patients With Cancer Oncology Nursing Forum articles: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Living With Multiple Myeloma Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life During Multiple Myeloma Treatment: A Qualitative Interview Study ONS book: Multiple Myeloma: A Textbook for Nurses (third edition)ONS Huddle Cards: Pain Management Sexuality Survivorship Care Plan ONS Learning Libraries: Hematology, Cellular Therapy, and Stem Cell TransplantationSurvivorship ONS Symptom Intervention resources: Chronic PainFatiguePeripheral Neuropathy American Cancer Society: Living as a Multiple Myeloma SurvivorBlood Cancer United: Resources for Healthcare ProfessionalsInternational Myeloma Foundation: Resources and Support for the Myeloma CommunityMultiple Myeloma Research Foundation: Empower Patients and the Community To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [e-mail]. Highlights From This Episode "We do consider myeloma an incurable hematologic malignancy, even though we have had improvements in survival. But just like for any malignancy, our goal is to maximize survival. We want to eliminate as many myeloma cells as we possibly can. And subsequently, we want to improve the quality of life for these patients in the long term. So those are basically our treatment goals. That's what we think of when we're treating patients all throughout their treatment journey." TS 1:39 "It is very typical for patients along their journey to have received several lines of therapy. I think it's important to realize that the cells acquire new mutations, making them more resistant to these further subsequent lines of therapy. We see quicker, more aggressive relapses in those patients with multiple prior lines of therapy. We can see an increase in the CRAB symptoms, which are the calcium elevations, the renal dysfunction, profound anemia, and even bone disease. We can see a rapid rise in the monoclonal protein in the labs or even a very rapid rise in the involved light chain in that serum free light chain assay, so it's important to monitor these labs." TS 9:14 "All oncology nurses are focusing on these survivorship plans now. And I think that's a great thing when you think about a diagnosis of cancer and a survivorship plan, because it means these patients are living a longer time. We still look at long-term health maintenance guidelines depending on the patient's sex and their age. ... I think preventing infection is always going to be something absolutely on the forefront in our survivorship plan with myeloma. I...