Oncology pharmacist contributions to treatment with oral anticancer agents in a Japanese community pharmacy setting

Oncology pharmacist-physician collaboration can lead to the identification of a number of significant issues for patients prescribed oral chemotherapy, demonstrating the important role of oncology pharmacists in the hospital-based multidisciplinary team.3 There are few reports on active clinical intervention by community pharmacists in oral chemotherapy.4 Although guidelines for outpatient cancer care by community pharmacists have been published,5 implementing pharmaceutical care is difficult owing to the lack of patient information, time and staff in community pharmacy settings. [...]severe or life-threatening ADRs occurred in these patients and they were hospitalized because of diarrhea, anemia or vertigo. [...]certified pharmacists have also indicated a number of potential clinically significant issues for patients receiving oral chemotherapy in the hospital setting, thereby demonstrating the role of pharmacists in the multidisciplinary team.3,12 Prescription contents need to be systematically checked by multiple medical staff in hospitals, as is performed for intravenous chemotherapy.13 In addition, to evaluate the appropriateness of prescription contents, it is crucial for community pharmacists to monitor ADRs and provide feedback to physicians regarding their severity. In a previous study, we evaluated ADRs using a numerical rating scale.15 ADRs assessed in community pharmacies are mainly nonhematological. [...]patient-reported outcomes such as numerical ratings or visual analog scales can better reflect the daily status.16 ADR information was shared with physicians by telephone, email or facsimile.