Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Honoring Navigation

Dear Navigators,

As you know, navigation as a profession began in breast cancer with the work of Harold P. Freeman, MD. Dr Freeman worked to identify and remove barriers to care for a community of women in need of breast cancer screening. The idea of “navigating” patients around those barriers in hope of impacting and improving patient outcomes resonated with the oncology community, and the term “patient navigation” was born.

To honor our connection to the field of breast cancer, we dedicate a special annual edition of the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (JONS) to breast cancer and the strides being made in the treatment of this disease as part of our Best Practices series. Whereas JONS addresses navigation and oncology topics at large, we designed the Best Practices series to provide disease-specific education as well as exploring implications for navigators.

In this issue, we hear from Sharon S. Gentry, RN, MSN, AOCN, CBCN, ONN-CG, who provides a thorough overview of breast cancer treatment. We delve into a more sensitive consideration associated with cancer treatment – reproductive issues – in an informative article by Catherine Klein, MBA, BSN, RN, CBCN, OCN, ONN-CG, entitled “Addressing Fertility Concerns for Young Women with Breast Cancer.” On the forefront of innovations in side effect management are scalp cooling devices that can prevent hair loss associated with chemotherapy. You’ll read about these devices in an article from our Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer coverage entitled “New Devices Prevent Chemotherapy-Induced Hair Loss.” 

The navigator’s role in the implementation of new devices is illustrated in our article entitled “The Many Faces of Nurse Navigators Delivering Cancer Care from Diagnosis to Treatment: Now Another Crucial Role to Play.”

We hope this issue enhances your practice and ultimately helps you to empower your patients living with breast cancer.

Sincerely,

Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, ONN-CG
Editor-in-Chief, JONS; Program Director, AONN+
University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer; Administrative Director, the Johns Hopkins Breast Center; Director, Cancer Survivorship Programs at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins; Professor, JHU School of Medicine, Depts of Surgery and Oncology; Cofounder, Johns Hopkins Medicine Managing Cancer at Work.
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