Development of a Practice Standard for Monitoring Adult Patients Receiving Bone-Modifying Agents at a Community Cancer Center.

The purpose of this study is to develop a standard for monitoring outpatients starting bone-modifying agents (BMAs) at a community cancer center. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines recommend the monitoring of serum magnesium and phosphorus during BMA therapy but do not define a standard interval. The risk of hypomagnesemia and hypophosphatemia was assessed for the BMAs denosumab, pamidronate, and zoledronic acid.

Prevalence of off-label use of oral oncolytics at a community cancer center.

Purpose: Oral oncolytics are becoming increasingly utilized for cancer treatment, but the frequency of off-label oral oncolytic use is not well described. The extent of off-label oral oncolytic use is a concern because the clinical benefits of such use to patients may not outweigh adverse health outcomes or cost concerns.

Methods: Prescription data for January 2011 through November 2013 from the St.