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The ONS PodcastAuthor: Oncology Nursing Society
Where ONS Voices Talk Cancer Join oncology nurses on the Oncology Nursing Society's award-winning podcast as they sit down to discuss the topics important to nursing practice and treating patients with cancer. ISSN 2998-2308 Language: en Genres: Education, Health & Fitness, Medicine Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 418: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: Colorectal Cancer
Episode 418
Friday, 5 June, 2026
"Radiation therapy is often extremely well tolerated in colorectal cancer. Technology has really changed things. But location of the tumor can affect side effects, such as radiation dermatitis. If a patient has a low-lying tumor, if it's less than six centimeters from the anal verge, the patient is likely to have some skin reaction. It's good to be proactive if that's the case," ONS member Lorraine Drapek, DNP, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, nurse practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about radiation side effects in colorectal cancer. 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 June 5, 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's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to the side effects of radiation to treat colorectal cancer. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 374: Colorectal Cancer Treatment Considerations for Nurses Episode 301: Radiation Oncology: Side Effect and Care Coordination Best Practices Episode 194: Sex Is a Component of Patient-Centered Care ONS Voice articles: Frank Conversations Enhance Sexual and Reproductive Health Support During Cancer High-Fiber Diet Reduces Diarrhea in Colorectal Cancer Survivors Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Shows Promise for Certain Radiation Side Effects Increasing Incidence of Colorectal Cancer in Younger Adults Is a Call to Action for Oncology Nurses Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: 5-Fluorouracil Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Oxaliplatin Oncology Nurses Are Key in Sexual Health Conversations With Minority Women Sexual Considerations for Patients With Cancer The Intersection of Pelvic Health and Oncology Optimizes Sexual Symptom Management ONS book: Manual for Radiation Oncology Nursing Practice and Education (fifth edition) ONS courses: ONS/ONCC® Radiation Therapy Certificate™ ONS ROCN™ Certification Review™ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Sexual Dysfunction: Common Side Effect Updated Interventions for Radiation-Induced Diarrhea: Putting Evidence Into Practice With the Oncology Nursing Society Physical Activity: A Systematic Review to Inform Nurse Recommendations During Treatment for Colorectal Cancer ONS Learning Libraries: Colorectal Cancer Radiation Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology American Society for Radiation Oncology American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guidelines Colontown Colorectal Cancer Alliance 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 "In recent years, there has been more nonsurgical management of rectal cancer, especially in what we call the low-lying population. This is the population of patients who would likely end up with a permanent colostomy because their cancer is so low in terms of being close to or involving the anal verge. There is now a regimen where these patients can get their chemotherapy followed by their chemoradiation and then be monitored on close surveillance without surgery." TS 2:23 "Another assessment would be to assess what effects have they had from their chemotherapy that they're bringing with them. FOLFOX-based treatment is commonly used, and the platinum therapy oxaliplatin often causes peripheral neuropathy. What is the patient having? What are those symptoms like? Are they having peripheral neuropathy? If they are that is likely not going to get better or improve during their whole course of radiation. In fact, sometimes when oxaliplatin therapy stops, the peripheral neuropathy can get worse as patients are going through other treatments." TS 5:42 "If the patient has a low-lying tumor, if it's less than six centimeters from the anal verge, the patient is likely to have some skin reaction. It's good to be proactive if that's the case. And then proactively minimizing radiation dermatitis effects, such as keeping the area clean, good washing of the area, and prophylactically starting them on or having someone start them on steroid creams a couple of times a day to minimize that radiation dermatitis effect in the long run." TS 7:25 "I have a sexual health clinic for women with these effects. It's very important as nurses that if you can develop the comfort to ask patients about their sexual activity—it's hard, but it really needs to be done. And I will tell you that the healthcare providers are not doing it. They don't have time, and like us as nurses, we don't get this in school, and neither do they. The other providers don't get it in school either, but it's important. Patients are getting more and more worried about their sexual health. They're coming to us at a younger age, and this is really, really important to address." TS 15:35 "I would say that working with your advanced practice providers and education for advanced practice providers has definitely been focusing on [sexual health] more. Your PAs and your NPs—I think they're going to have the ears and the wherewithal to be able to be your allies and colleagues in this. By and large, it's my APP colleagues and nursing that I talk to the most about this. … Again, it's not an easy thing to bring forward, having dilators in place. But I will tell you in the department that I work in, it was me and couple of nurses who pushed this issue with the physicians for two years and finally got it put in place. It can be done. There's a lot more centers out there doing that." TS 21:51
