Pharmaceutical care for patients with breast and ovarian cancer

PURPOSE: Individualized patient care may help reduce the incidence of adverse drug events in systemic cancer therapy. This study was conducted to explore the feasibility and potential of additional pharmaceutical care for breast and ovarian cancer patients. METHODS: The study was designed as a prospective, multicentered cohort study with a control group. Ninety-eight breast or ovarian cancer patients were recruited from outpatient oncology clinics and primary care oncologists: initially into the control group receiving standard care and after implementation of pharmaceutical care into the intervention group consisting of additional patient counseling on the management of treatment-associated adverse events and optimization of supportive medication. Primary outcome was the complete response to the antiemetic prophylaxis. Secondary endpoints were the severity of nausea, frequency of emesis, health-related quality of life, and patient satisfaction with information on cancer treatment education. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were included in the control group and 50 in the intervention group. Of the patients, 35.4% in the control group and 76.0% in the intervention group (p < 0.001) had a complete response to the antiemetic prophylaxis. The severity of acute and delayed nausea was not reduced. The global health scale and two symptom scales (nausea and vomiting, appetite loss) of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire were positively affected by pharmaceutical care. Patient satisfaction with information was significantly higher in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with breast and ovarian cancer seem to benefit from pharmaceutical care, as suggested by improved patient-reported outcomes such as emetic episodes, quality of life, and patient satisfaction after implementation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00520-012-1385-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.