Dear Navigators,
Oncology navigation has made great strides in improving cancer care, including access to quality care, for nearly 3 decades. Navigation programs are well established for most patient populations with solid organ tumors, but less so within the patient populations with liquid cancers. I am pleased to report that this is changing, and it is wonderful to see. The eventual goal is for every patient diagnosed with cancer, regardless of cancer type, to be supported by a navigator throughout their personal journey. For cancers that can be prevented or caught early, we want to make cancer screenings easy to access. And we want to continue our vital role of removing barriers to care throughout the entire continuum of care from active treatment through survivorship.
Presently, the principles of navigation are emerging within hematologic oncology. In recognition of the budding presence of navigation within this field, we dedicate this special issue of the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (JONS) to covering the latest strides being made in leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, to name a few. It is gratifying to see navigation adopted by another oncology specialty. We are optimistic that the tenets of navigation will successfully impact the lives of patients living with hematologic malignancies.
We are pleased to offer this issue to you and sincerely hope it is of value to you in your practice.
Sincerely,
Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, ONN-CG
Editor-in-Chief, JONS; Program Director, AONN+
