{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 417: Pharmacology 101: Oncolytic Viral Therapy","description":"\u201cThere are a lot of specifics that nurses need to keep in mind as they are administering this herpes simplex modified virus to patients because accidental exposure is of concern both to the patient, to their family members, as well as to healthcare workers. I always recommend nurses wear personal protective equipment, such as a gown, safety glasses, gloves, and\/or a face shield,\u201d Heidi Finnes, PharmD, RPh, BCOP, director of clinical ambulatory practice at Mayo Clinic and assistant professor of pharmacy at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, MN, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS\u00ae, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about oncolytic viral therapy.  Music Credit: \u201cFireflies and Stardust\u201d 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 May 29, 2027. The 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\u2019s Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge about the use of oncolytic viruses to treat cancer. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  ONS Podcast\u2122 episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Episode 338: High-Volume Subcutaneous Injections: The Oncology Nurse\u2019s Role Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Episode 273: Updates in Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy ONS Voice articles: Cutaneous Malignancies Have High Response to Oncolytic Virus Plus Immunotherapy Oncolytic Virus Kills Tumor Cells While Supporting T Cells What Nurses Need to Know About Talimogene Laherparepvec for Advanced Melanoma Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Intralesional Therapy: Consensus Statements for Best Practices in Administration From the Melanoma Nursing Initiative Safe and Effective Standards of Care: Supporting the Administration of T-VEC for Patients With Advanced Melanoma in the Outpatient Oncology Setting Oncology Nursing Forum article: Administration and Handling of Talimogene Laherparepvec: An Intralesional Oncolytic Immunotherapy for Melanoma ONS book: Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy (second edition) ONS clinical practice resource: Safe Handling of Oncolytic Viruses ONS Huddle Card: Immunotherapy Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) Drugs@FDA Hematology\/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Network for Collaborative Oncology Development and Advancement (NCODA) Patient Education Sheets 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 pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode \u201c[Oncolytic viruses] can have direct lysis to the tumor cells themselves, or they can cause immunogenic activation. They release tumor-associated antigens and then proinflammatory signals, so think of T cells, natural killer cells, those sorts of things, that can convert to immunologically cold tumors. Those are tumors that are immune silenced into hot tumors which are now immune activated. By doing that, they recruit those T cells and other cells to the area to attack both the primary tumors. But that\u2019s also thought to be how they work on distant or noninjected sites as well. This immunomodulatory capacity has led to the reclassification of oncolytic viruses as a form of cancer immunotherapy. So, think of it kind of similarly to how we think of immune checkpoint inhibitors in recruiting immune cells and leaving our immune system in the on position. This is also kind of a form of immunotherapy.\u201d TS 4:35 \u201cOne of the toxicities I know that is of significant concern to patients, family members, and healthcare workers is the incidence of herpes infections. Systemic herpetic infections are extremely rare and usually more common in patients who may be immunocompromised. In patients who also have other immune-related diseases\u2014such as vitiligo, vasculitis, pneumonitis, sometimes worsening psoriasis\u2014because you\u2019re mounting an immune response with these types of things, sometimes you can see a worsening of those types of immune symptoms. But for the most part, these types of side effects are very well tolerated in most patients.\u201d TS 9:07 \u201cTalimogene is generally transmitted via bodily fluids or touch. It\u2019s not airborne. Herpes simplex virus isn\u2019t an airborne type of virus. Another thing to consider is where are you going to inject this? Are you going to do this in your infusion therapy unit? Are you going to do it in a dedicated room? Who\u2019s going to escort the patient to the room? How is the virus going to arrive at the room? How will you clean the room and all of the laboratory equipment or any of the exam tables that may be in there? I think having all of that discussed and assigned mitigates the consternation that can sometimes occur\u2014the fear that occurs with administering a virus that is thought to be fairly communicable.\u201d TS 15:44 \u201cHelping patients understand how this works [is important] because hearing that you\u2019re receiving a virus, particularly a herpes simplex virus, can be scary to a patient. I think understanding that it\u2019s modified or essentially we\u2019re taking the parts out of it so that we can directly inject a portion that recruits immune cells to that area, because the goal is for the oncolytic virus to attack cancer cells and then destroy them by triggering an immune response in the body.\u201d TS 20:51 \u201cSometimes patients are very concerned about urine in the toilet, bodily fluids, kissing loved ones, holding hands, hugging, you know, am I going to infect my loved one because I\u2019m getting this type of an oncolytic virus therapy? I like to reassure patients that they can continue to hold hands and hug their loved ones as normal. Viral DNA is usually only present on the injection site. And as I mentioned previously, we want to cover that injection site with an occlusive dressing, at least with talimogene, for up to seven days. And particularly, if those injection sites are at all oozing or weeping, active virus is usually only on that injection site itself.\u201d TS 24:14 ","author_name":"The ONS Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/onsvoice.libsyn.com\/website","html":"