Clinical experience with fulvestrant ('Faslodex'): a nurse's perspective.
Following the recent approval of fulvestrant ('Faslodex', 250 mg/month) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer in the European Union, its use in the clinic will increase. The breast cancer nurse specialist and/or the oncology nurse will be the health care professional who administers fulvestrant to patients, and this manuscript aims to describe my experiences and the practicalities of using this new treatment. Faslodex is a viscous solution that is slowly administered intramuscularly (250 mg/5 mL) into the upper outer quadrant of the buttock, with patients positioned either on their side, prone or standing up. Injection-site reactions are infrequent and most patients do not find the injection painful. To highlight the use of fulvestrant in the clinical setting, four case histories of patients who have received fulvestrant in my centre are described.
Owers
Rachel
R
Nottingham Breast Institute, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham NG5 1PB, Nottinghamshire, UK. rowers@ncht.trent.nhs.uk
D000368:Aged; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000451:nursing*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D004958:Estradiol