Pharmaceutical Compounding as a Pillar of Personalized Oncology: Current Applications, Emerging Technologies, and

Filipa Mascarenhas-Melo1,2, Rafael Pinheiro3, Francis Victor4

  • 1Higher School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Rua Da Cadeia, 6300-307 Guarda, Portugal.

Insights

Pharmaceutical compounding is crucial for personalized oncology, enabling tailored cancer treatments. It supports individualized dosing, dosage forms, and continuity of care, especially for complex cases and when commercial drugs are unavailable.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Drug Delivery

Background:

  • Personalized oncology requires tailored treatments due to increasing complexity and patient variability.
  • Standardized medicines face limitations in addressing diverse individual patient needs in cancer care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the role of pharmaceutical compounding in delivering individualized oncology treatments.
  • To evaluate emerging technologies and regulatory aspects of compounding in modern oncology.

Main Methods:

  • A narrative literature review was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science.
  • The review analyzed applications in immunotherapy, nanotechnology, genomic-guided therapy, and combination strategies.

Main Results:

  • Compounded medications enable dose adjustment, dosage form modification, and excipient exclusion for personalized care.
  • Magistral and officinal preparations ensure treatment continuity when commercial formulations are absent.
  • Technological advancements enhance compounding precision, reproducibility, and safety.

Conclusions:

  • Pharmaceutical compounding is essential for patient-centered, adaptable personalized oncology.
  • Pharmacist involvement, technological innovation, and regulatory oversight are key to safe and effective individualized cancer therapies.

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