AI Article Synopsis

  • The study aimed to explore the involvement of community pharmacists in the treatment journey of cancer patients and to gauge patients' acceptance of their condition and therapies through a survey in Turin, Italy.
  • A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 266 cancer patients across five clinics over three months, revealing that many patients felt significantly impacted by their diagnosis, but a large majority also expressed a strong acceptance of their circumstances and a desire to fight back.
  • Results showed that most patients believed it was crucial for pharmacists to understand their health status and to provide information about medications, indicating a need for enhanced training and a collaborative network among healthcare professionals to better support cancer patients.

Article Abstract

Objective: To investigate the role of community pharmacists in the therapeutic process of oncological patients and to assess these patients' state of acceptance of their disease and their relationship with their therapies, we performed a survey in some oncological clinics in Turin (north-west of Italy).

Methods: The survey was carried out in a three months' period by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered on paper to oncological patients that attended 5 oncological clinics in Turin. The questionnaire was self-administered.

Results: 266 patients filled out the questionnaire. More than half of patients reported that their cancer diagnosis interfered with normal life very much or extremely and almost 70% of patients reported that they were accepting of what happened and were trying to fight back. 65% of patients answered that it is important or very important that pharmacists are aware of their health status. About 3 out of 4 patients thought that pharmacists giving information on medicines purchased and on how to use them is important or very important and that it is important to receive information concerning health and the effects of medication taken.

Conclusion: Our study underlines the role of territorial health units in the management of oncological patients. It can be said that the community pharmacy is certainly a channel of election, not only in cancer prevention but also in the management of those patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer. More comprehensive and specific pharmacist training is necessary for the management of this type of patient. Furthermore, it is necessary to improve the awareness of this issue in community pharmacists at the local and national levels by creating a network of qualified pharmacies developed in collaboration with oncologists, GPs, dermatologists, psychologists and cosmetics companies.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891800PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2022.4.2716DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

oncological patients
12
patients
9
community pharmacists
8
oncological clinics
8
clinics turin
8
patients reported
8
oncological
6
oncological patient
4
management
4
patient management
4

Similar Publications

The growing sophistication of tumor molecular profiling has helped to slowly transition oncologic care toward a more personalized approach in different tumor types, including in bladder cancer. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends that all patients with stage IVA and stage IVB urothelial carcinoma have molecular analysis that integrates at least testing to help facilitate the selection of future therapeutic options. Sequencing of tumor-derived tissue is the mainstay to obtain this genomic testing, but as in other cancers, there has been extensive research into the integration of liquid biopsies in longitudinal management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The number of cancer patients, cancer survivors, and cancer surgeries is expected to continue to grow and anesthesiologists will benefit from having a framework on how to approach treating perioperative pain in the oncologic population. This article presents general considerations for formulating a perioperative pain management plan including cancer-specific contraindications for epidurals and nerve blocks, common procedures for pain after thoracic and abdominal surgeries, and alternative pain management techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive subtype with a high incidence in young patients, a high incidence in non-Hispanic Black women, and a high risk of progression to metastatic cancer, a devastating sequela with a 12- to 18-month life expectancy. Until recently, one strategy for treating early-stage triple-negative breast cancer was chemotherapy after surgery. However, it was not known whether the addition of immune therapy to postsurgery chemotherapy would be beneficial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes and efficacy of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) using the Versius robotic surgical system, aiming to provide comprehensive data on perioperative outcomes, postoperative recovery, and complications.

Patient And Methods: All cases of RARP using the CMR Versius platform performed at Cairo University Hospital over a two-year period were enrolled in this study. All patients had pathologically confirmed prostate cancer in both localized and locally advanced stages.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Lynch syndrome is the most common hereditary cancer predisposition, accounting for 1-5% of colorectal cancer cases, and is driven by germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes. Despite established diagnostic criteria, such as the Amsterdam guidelines, Lynch syndrome remains largely underdiagnosed. To address this gap, universal tumour screening has been introduced for all newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer, significantly improving early detection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!