[Effect of Pharmacist Interview before Doctor's Examination for Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Patients]

Patients treated with anticancer drugs are likely to have serious physical and mental anxieties due to severe adverse events. Continuous information provision with the expertise of pharmacists will lead to the improvement of quality of life (QOL) of patients and efficient administration of chemotherapy. At Koyama Memorial Hospital, a pre-consultation service by pharmacists has been initiated to reduce adverse events in patients undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy. The service has allowed pharmacists to continuously intervene with treatment from the start and if necessary, suggest that physicians change supportive care or conduct additional tests. Pre-consultations were provided for 503 breast cancer patients who received outpatient chemotherapy between January 2016 and October 2017. For 68(13.5%)of the 503 cases, pharmacists suggested prescriptions or tests. In the 68 cases, the adoption rate of suggestions among physicians was 95.6%(65/68). As a result of the adopted suggestions, adverse events disappeared or were alleviated in 89.2%(58/65)of the patients. Therefore, in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, adverse events associated with chemotherapy may be alleviated early through pharmacist-led pre-consultation and provision of appropriate pharmaceutical interventions based on the preconsultations.