Cancer-Chemotherapy-Related Regimen Checks Performed by Pharmacists of General Hospitals Other than Cancer Treatment Collaborative Base Hospitals: A Multicenter, Prospective Survey.

Although prescription review is an important role for pharmacists in anticancer drug therapy, there are no guidelines in Japan that specify what pharmacists should check for in chemotherapy regimens. This prospective multicenter survey aimed to investigate the implementation of chemotherapy regimen checks by pharmacists in general hospitals by focusing on 19 recommended confirmation items designed to enhance chemotherapy safety. This study involved 14 hospitals within the National Hospital Organization in different regions of Japan.

Assessment of adverse events via a telephone consultation service for cancer patients receiving ambulatory chemotherapy.

Background: An increasing number of cancer patients are receiving ambulatory chemotherapy to improve their quality of life and reduce medical expenses. During outpatient chemotherapy, adverse events (AEs) occurring at home must be carefully monitored. We investigated the use of our institution's telephone consultation service that is available to patients and their caregivers for advice on and the management of AEs and complications arising from cancer treatment.

Significant association between hand-foot syndrome and efficacy of capecitabine in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Capecitabine, an oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), is a promising treatment for colorectal, breast and gastric cancers, but often causes hand-foot syndrome (HFS), the most common dose-limiting toxicity. The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between HFS and efficacy of capecitabine in 98 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Possible associations between HFS and efficacy endpoints, including time-to-treatment failure (TTF), tumor response in metastatic lesions and changes in tumor markers, were investigated retrospectively using electronic medical records.

[Survey on oncologists-provided information on treatment-related infertility to breast cancer patients].

Purpose: Treatment-related infertility is an important issue facing breast cancer survivors of childbearing age. A previous study at the National Cancer Center Hospital between 2000 and 2004 analyzed 136 postoperative breast cancer patients under 40 years old, and found that only 7% of them had been provided with information on fertility-related issues by their treating physicians. However, the way in which information is shared may have changed, given the recent publication of national and international guidelines on fertility issues in cancer patients, and we hypothesized that there will be an increase in the percentage of cases in which information about fertility-related issues is provided.