The Influence of Intervening on the Pharmaceutical Consultation Targeting Outpatients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Erlotinib Treatment

• Published in: Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin Vol. 44; no. 9; pp. 1280 - 1285
• Main Authors: Seira Nishibe-Toyosatoa, Yosuke Andoa, Yasuhiro Gotob, Takahiro Hayashia, c, Kaori Itod, Hidezo Matsudaa, Naho Tsujiia, Masahiro Tsugea, Kenji Kawadae, Kazuyoshi Imaizumib, Shigeki Yamadaa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Pharmaceutical Society of Japan 01.09.2021
• ISSN: 0918-6158; 1347-5215

Erlotinib is used to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the common serious adverse events are skin disorders. The dose intensity of erlotinib should be maintained as much as possible by an appropriate control of adverse events in order to maintain its efficacy. Therefore, the management of these adverse events related to skin disorders would enable a continuous erlotinib treatment without interruption and dose reduction. This study assessed the effect of pharmaceutical consultation in outpatients who received erlotinib. Participants included patients with NSCLC who received erlotinib therapy for more than 6 months between December 2007 and March 2019. The participants were divided into two groups : the intervention group that included patients who received pharmaceutical consultation targeting outpatients by a pharmacist and the nonintervention group that included patients who did not. We retrospectively investigated patient characteristics, treatment regimens, and treatment efficacy. We included a total of 33 patients (18 and 15 patients in the nonintervention and intervention groups, respectively) in this study. The intervention group had a significantly higher median relative dose intensity (RDI) of erlotinib than the nonintervention group (p = 0.0437). In addition, the pharmaceutical consultation targeting outpatients was identified as a factor contributing to the maintenance of RDI >-90% (p = 0.0269). The present study indicated that there was improvement in RDI with pharmaceutical consultation targeting outpatients with advanced NSCLC.