[Fostering Mixed-skill Pharmacists for Careers in Health Support Pharmacies-Education to Overcome the Barrier of Limited Occupational Expertise].

For becoming a talented pharmacist at a health support pharmacy, the practitioner must obtain ability in two significant skill sets: "Technical skill" and "Non-technical skill". Technical skills are that required for a pharmacist's specialty/expertise, such as a wide variety of specialized knowledge and techniques. Non-technical skills are those required for effective communication and cooperation with patients, as well as with professionals from multiple fields, and also leadership/problem-solving ability within a team.

Antitumor activity of erlotinib in combination with capecitabine in human tumor xenograft models.

Purpose: To examine the antitumor activity and tolerability of a combination comprising erlotinib and capecitabine in human colorectal, breast and epidermal cancer xenograft models. Further aims of the study were to examine the effects of single-agent erlotinib therapy on tumor growth, and on thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) levels, (enzymes which activate and deactivate capecitabine, respectively) in tumor tissue.

Methods: BALB/c nu/nu mice bearing LoVo and HT-29 (colon cancer), A-431 (vulval cancer), and KPL-4 and MAXF401 (breast cancer) human tumors were treated with erlotinib 100 mg/kg/day and/or capecitabine 359 or 90 mg/kg/day, by oral administration once daily for 14 days.

[Optimal dosing schedule in combination therapy with irinotecan and doxifluridine in a human colorectal cancer xenograft model].

A combination therapy with CPT-11 and 5-FU/LV has been recently established as a first-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. However, severe adverse effects have also been reported from this combination therapy, and a modality to reduce the adverse effects is desired. 5'-DFUR, a pro-drug of 5-FU, shows less myelotoxicity than 5-FU, and thus it may be a better partner to combine with CPT-11.