XELOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) is a standard treatment for unresectable advanced colorectal cancer. Combining oral and intravenous administration, it is convenient method of treatment but full patient compliance regarding capecitabine is necessary to obtain efficacy. To help ensure good patient compliance for this drug, we established a pharmaceutical outpatient clinic at the Cancer Institute Hospital of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research (JFCR) where pharmacists interview patients prior to physicians' assessments. Medication compliance and adverse effects are investigated, and supportive care and prescription support provided.
In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of the pharmaceutical outpatient clinic. We retrospectively investigated colorectal cancer patients who had received treatment with XELOX or XELOX + bevacizumab in our hospital. The end points included the number and content of inquiries concerning XELOX and the adoption rate of suggestions made regarding supportive care.
In the results, inquiries concerning XELOX were made for 5.3% (14/260) of patients in a pharmaceutical intervention group (post-pharmaceutical outpatient clinic), in contrast to 16.8% (43/256)for a control group (no consultation in pharmaceutical outpatient clinic). The number of inquiries was significantly lower in the pharmaceutical intervention group than in the control group (p<0.001). In the pharmaceutical intervention group there were no inquiries about dosage. At 95.4%, the adoption rate for 592 prescription suggestions was very high. The results of our study indicate that the pharmaceutical outpatient clinic was useful for patients prescribed XELOX.
