The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7486 p76
26 January 2008

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Alert warns of risks associated with oral anticancer agents

Warnings about the risks of incorrect dosing of oral anticancer medicines have been issued by the National Patient Safety Agency.

In a Rapid Response Report published this week, the NPSA recommends that the prescribing, dispensing and administration of oral anticancer medicines should be carried out and monitored to the same standard as injected therapy.

Staff dispensing oral anticancer medicines should confirm that prescribed doses are appropriate and that patients are aware of monitoring requirements. In addition, staff should have access to information from the hospital where treatment was initiated as well as to advice from a pharmacist with experience in cancer treatment at that hospital, the NPSA says.

To enable this, the NPSA recommends that written information, including details from the original protocol of the intended regimen, treatment plan and monitoring arrangements, should be given to patients and shared with pharmacists.