title: Pharmacotherapy follow-up of key points in the safety of oral antineoplastic agents.
abstract: We assessed the impact of a pharmacotherapy follow-up programme on key safety points [adverse events (AE) and drug administration] in outpatients treated with oral antineoplastic agents (OAA). We performed a comparative, interventional, quasi-experimental study of outpatients treated with OAA in a Spanish hospital to compare pre-intervention group patients (not monitored by pharmacists during 2011) with intervention group patients (prospectively monitored by pharmacists during 2013). AE data were collected from medical records. Follow-up was 6 months, and 249 patients were included (pre-intervention, 115; intervention, 134). After the first month, AE were detected in 86.5% of patients in the pre-intervention group and 80.6% of patients in the intervention group, P = 0.096. During the remaining months, 79.0% patients had at least one AE in the pre-intervention group compared with 78.0% in the intervention group, P = 0.431. AE were more prevalent with sorafenib and sunitinib. In total, 173 drug interactions were recorded (pre-intervention, 80; intervention, 93; P = 0.045). Drug interactions were more frequent with erlotinib and gefitinib; food interactions were more common with sorafenib and pazopanib. Our follow-up of cancer outpatients revealed a reduction in severe AE and major drug interactions, thus helping health professionals to monitor the safety of OAA.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Escudero-Vilaplana
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ribed
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Romero-Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herranz-Alonso
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanjurjo-Saez
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000359:Aftercare; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D061214:Patient Safety; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019114:Remote Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: cancer; education; patient education; patient information; therapy