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As members of the multidisciplinary team, navigators are instrumental in assessing improving the patient flow process.

“Collusion in communication is a big issue in oncology,” stated Mellar Davis, MD, Director of Palliative Care Services at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Dr Davis spoke at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC). “It is the elephant in the room.”

At the recent 2017 Annual Meeting of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, Ronan Kelly, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, spoke about financial toxicity, the need for value-based care to address it, and what oncologists and healthcare providers can do to reduce costs of cancer care.

As immune checkpoint inhibitors gain traction for the treatment of a variety of cancers, it is important to be aware of all the potential side effects that can occur.

Dr Chloe Grimmett presented findings from a pilot study on a web-based support tool for young breast cancer patients considering genetic testing for BRCA1/2.

Anxiety is a surprisingly common, chronic, and in many cases, unaddressed concern among cancer survivors, according to Joanna Arch, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Building a collaborative, multidisciplinary adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology program relies heavily on patient navigation, according to Damon Reed, MD, Director of the AYA Program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL.

A combined Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program at The Ohio State University (OSU) James Cancer Hospital provides fellows with a core curriculum to promote quality cancer care from diagnosis to end of life.

Informal caregivers play a critical role in the emotional, functional, and medical support of adult cancer survivors, and a burgeoning area of research shows that the well-being of informal cancer caregivers is associated with the mental health and quality of life of the cancer survivors in their care, according to Kristin Litzelman, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

In this issue, we present original research as well as coverage from recent oncology meetings. On the navigation front, we feature articles from our own Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) West Coast Regional Meeting.