Sponsored by GSK
Nicole Tasker has been compensated by GSK for her participation in this article.
Nicole Tasker once read that giving someone a 15-second hug can change their entire day. As an oncology nurse, this has become integral to her approach to care. “Nobody wants to feel like they’re just a bunch of boxes that need to be checked,” she says. “So no matter what’s going on in my own life, when I step into that clinic, I’m there with a smile on my face and I’m ready with a hug for whoever needs it.”
During cancer treatment, there’s a special bond that often forms between nurses and patients. Nurses are the faces patients see every day: They’re there administering treatments, monitoring and helping manage any side effects, and providing emotional support. “One of my favorite parts of being a nurse practitioner,” says Tasker, MSN, APN, FNP-BC, “is that I get to spend so much extra time with patients, so we really build relationships. It’s always wonderful when I see a patient for a follow-up visit and they tell me they’ve missed my smile.”
Tasker has worked in oncology for more than 12 years, and six years ago, she became a nurse practitioner. Her role requires her to collaborate with doctors to determine a patient’s treatment plan, help manage any side effects, check patients’ blood work, and essentially make sure every single patient is well cared for. “Before starting as a nurse practitioner, I was exclusively working with patients — monitoring them, setting up their IVs, and talking through their labs with them,” says Tasker. “So I’ve got a good understanding of what happens from different perspectives.”
This personal connection also provides Tasker with a holistic understanding of her patients’ health needs. During this time, she’ll ask them about other conditions or symptoms they are having and talk about other screening tests they should be aware of for their overall health. “I tell them about routine monitoring and screenings. To me, survivorship means ensuring all aspects of a patient’s health are taken care of.”
Tasker works with gynecologic oncology patients — those who have cancers, as Tasker describes them, “below the belt.” Many of her patients have endometrial cancer, which isn’t surprising given it is the most commonly diagnosed gynecologic cancer in the United States. She says an enormous part of her job is ensuring that patients are educated and informed about all aspects of their disease: “It always surprises me how many women aren’t aware of endometrial cancer,” she says. This cancer primarily impacts post-menopausal women and often has one major symptom women should never ignore: abnormal vaginal bleeding. This might mean a change in their periods, bleeding between periods, or bleeding after menopause. Other symptoms of endometrial cancer can include pain in the pelvis, sudden weight loss, or feeling a mass in the pelvic area. These are not all the possible symptoms of endometrial cancer, so it’s important for patients to talk to their doctor to learn more about other possible symptoms. “I’ve had patients tell me they noticed vaginal bleeding and just ignored it because they thought it was caused by stress,” says Tasker. “That’s a really common story, because women have so much stress in their lives.”
Tasker works with patients diagnosed with certain types of late-stage endometrial cancer, some of whom are receiving an immunotherapy treatment called JEMPERLI (dostarlimab-gxly for injection 500mg).
Approved Uses
JEMPERLI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a kind of uterine cancer called endometrial cancer (EC)
- JEMPERLI may be used in combination with the chemotherapy medicines, carboplatin and paclitaxel, and then after that JEMPERLI may be used alone:
- when your cancer has spread outside your uterus (advanced) or,
- your cancer has returned.
- JEMPERLI may be used alone:
- when a laboratory test shows that your tumor is mismatch repair deficient (dMMR), and
- your cancer has returned, or it has spread (advanced EC), and
- you have received chemotherapy that contains platinum and it did not work or is no longer working, and
- your cancer cannot be treated by surgery or radiation.
It is not known if JEMPERLI is safe and effective in children.
Important Safety Information (ISI)
JEMPERLI is a medicine that may treat certain cancers by working with your immune system. JEMPERLI can cause your immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in any area of your body and can affect the way they work. These problems can sometimes become severe or life-threatening and can lead to death. You can have more than one of these problems at the same time. These problems may happen anytime during treatment or even after your treatment has ended.
Click to see additional ISI continued below
“A lot of patients know what chemotherapy is but aren’t familiar with immunotherapy,” explains Tasker. JEMPERLI is a type of immunotherapy, known as a checkpoint inhibitor, that may help immune T-cells (the cells in the body that fight infections) identify and attack tumor cells. “I explain that this medicine is designed to use your immune system to fight off cancer cells — it may help rev up that system. When I word things in a way patients understand, it makes them much less nervous, and the experience isn’t so terrifying.”
Ensuring that her patients both receive high quality care while also understanding their care plan is crucial, but Tasker also knows the importance of meeting her patients’ emotional needs. She does this by encouraging them to speak about their diagnoses if and when they’re ready: Not just to her, but to the people they care about. “Some patients are uncomfortable telling people they have cancer, and then their experience is so lonely,” she says. “You could have a friend or someone in your community dealing with the exact same thing, but you’ll never know that unless you tell her.” Tasker also emphasizes the importance of open communication between patients and their doctors, encouraging them to discuss treatment options to ensure they are well-informed about what choices may be appropriate for their unique situations.
For Tasker, high-quality patient care also means ensuring patients receive treatment, if needed, as soon as possible. That’s why she shares everything she knows about the signs and symptoms of endometrial cancer with anyone who will listen — and encourages her patients to share anything unusual or out of the ordinary with their doctor: “Maybe you were diagnosed with endometrial cancer after you noticed spotting” (spotting is light vaginal bleeding that occurs outside of your regular period). She continues, “And maybe someone you know is having those same symptoms, but she has no idea she should go see her doctor, so she writes them off. Talking about cancer can be scary, but if you’re up for it, sharing your experiences could change someone else’s life.”
Tasker says one of the most upsetting questions she hears from patients is, “What did I do wrong?” She explains, “Women who are diagnosed with stage III (3) or later endometrial cancer are understandably devastated. But I tell them, What matters is that you’re here now. We’re going to work through this together, and I’m going to be there every step of the way.”
Learn more about endometrial cancer and JEMPERLI as a treatment option for certain patients from Dr. Sharyn Lewin, Director of Gynecologic Oncology, Holy Name Medical Regional Cancer Center here.
Important Safety Information (cont’d)
Call or see your healthcare provider (HCP) right away if you develop any new or worsening signs or symptoms, including:
Lung problems. Signs and symptoms may include cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
Intestinal problems. Signs and symptoms may include diarrhea or more bowel movements than usual; stools that are black, tarry, sticky, or have blood or mucus; or severe stomach-area (abdomen) pain or tenderness.
Liver problems. Signs and symptoms may include yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of your stomach area (abdomen), dark urine (tea colored), or bleeding or bruising more easily than usual.
Hormone gland problems. Signs and symptoms may include headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches, eye sensitivity to light, eye problems, rapid heartbeat, increased sweating, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual, urinating more often than usual, hair loss, feeling cold, constipation, your voice gets deeper, dizziness or fainting, changes in mood or behavior such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness.
Kidney problems. Signs and symptoms may include change in the amount or color of your urine, blood in your urine, swelling in your ankles, or loss of appetite.
Skin problems. Signs and symptoms may include rash; itching; skin blistering or peeling; swollen lymph nodes; painful sores or ulcers in your mouth or in your nose, throat, or genital area; fever or flu-like symptoms.
Problems can also happen in other organs and tissues. These are not all of the signs and symptoms of immune system problems that can happen with JEMPERLI. Call or see your HCP right away for any new or worse signs or symptoms. Signs and symptoms may include chest pain, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, swelling of ankles; confusion, sleepiness, memory problems, changes in mood or behavior, stiff neck, balance problems, tingling or numbness of the arms or legs; double vision, blurry vision, sensitivity to light, eye pain, changes in eyesight; persistent or severe muscle pain or weakness, muscle cramps; low red blood cells, bruising.
Infusion reactions that can sometimes be severe or life-threatening. Signs and symptoms of infusion reactions may include chills or shaking, itching or rash, flushing, shortness of breath or wheezing, dizziness, feel like passing out, fever, back or neck pain.
Rejection of a transplanted organ. Your HCP should tell you what signs and symptoms you should report and monitor you, depending on the type of organ transplant that you have had.
Complications, including graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), in people who have received a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant that uses donor stem cells (allogeneic). These complications can be serious and can lead to death. These complications may happen if you underwent transplantation either before or after being treated with JEMPERLI. Your HCP will monitor you for these complications.
Getting medical treatment right away may help keep these problems from becoming more serious. Your HCP will check you for these problems during treatment with JEMPERLI and may treat you with corticosteroid or hormone replacement medicines. If you have severe side effects, your HCP may also need to delay or completely stop treatment with JEMPERLI.
Before receiving JEMPERLI, tell your HCP about all of your medical conditions, including immune system problems such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or lupus; received an organ transplant; have received or plan to receive a stem cell transplant that uses donor stem cells (allogeneic); have received radiation treatment to your chest area; have a condition that affects your nervous system, such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain-Barré syndrome.
If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, tell your HCP. JEMPERLI can harm your unborn baby. If you are able to become pregnant, your HCP will give you a pregnancy test before you start treatment. Use an effective birth control method during treatment and for 4 months after your last dose of JEMPERLI. Tell your HCP right away if you become pregnant or think you may be pregnant during treatment with JEMPERLI.
If you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed, tell your HCP. It is not known if JEMPERLI passes into your breast milk. Do not breastfeed during treatment with JEMPERLI and for 4 months after your last dose.
Tell your HCP about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
The most common side effects of JEMPERLI when given with carboplatin and paclitaxel include nerve problems in your arms, hands, legs, and feet; tiredness; nausea; hair loss; joint pain; rash; constipation; diarrhea; stomach-area (abdomen) pain; shortness of breath; decreased appetite; urinary tract infections; vomiting.
The most common side effects of JEMPERLI when used alone include tiredness and weakness, low red blood cell count (anemia), diarrhea, nausea, constipation, vomiting.
These are not all of the possible side effects of JEMPERLI. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA by calling 1-800-FDA-1088 or visiting www.fda.gov/medwatch.
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide for patients.
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PMUS-DSTCOCO240007 December 2024
Produced in USA.
